One Winged Angel
by BottledCoke
Summary: Bella thought she was hallucinating when she saw a arm come through her mirror. But when she checks it out, she trips, thinking she'll crash and shatter the mirror but instead she falls into it and into another place. AH/AU, ExB, JxA, Language, lemons
1. Chapter 1

One Winged Angel

Summary: Bella thought she was hallucinating when she saw a hand come through her mirror. But when she checks it out, she trips, thinking she'll crash and shatter her mirror but instead she falls into it and into another place. ExB, JxA, RxEm. AU/AH. Possible lemons, language. Romance/Drama/Fantasy

Chapter 1 - Thin Glass.

Jukebox: Guilty Pleasure - BECCA

-

Bella's P.o.V

-

_I fell to the ground, landing on my hands and knees, trying to cough out the smoke and blood. After a couple moments, I looked up and around, taking in the scene unfolding around me. There was blood and bodies everywhere. Dead or alive, I had no clue anymore. Many were lost from both sides. I was brought back to reality by the deep gash on the inside of my thighs. Hissing, I pressed my hand tightly to the wound, ready to heal it but my eyes landed to the guy in front of me._

_My mouth moved to call out his name but I couldn't hear myself. His eyes were shadowed over by bronze locks. But that's not where I was looking. My eyes were fixed on the Kit Rae Kilgorin: Sword of Darkness, stabbed through his stomach, locking him to a large oak tree behind him. Alarm bells went off in my head at the blood pooling beneath him. I desperately crawled forward, placing my hands around the sword, intending to heal the wound to stop most of the bleeding but his hand gripped mine, shaking his head._

_I scream out again but no sound came out. By now tears were streaming down my cheeks. This armor suddenly felt all too heavy, the Eye of Drakonus daggers feeling like they weigh a ton in their sheaths on my hips. I got up and tried shouting out for help but no one came. Everyone else was fighting their own battles._

_I heard someone coming behind me and I whirled around. This male also had his face shadowed over with his shaggy black bangs. He wore black battle armor with gold swirls and spirals. He was talking to me but I couldn't hear a word he was saying but I spoke back. He frowned, tilting his head to the side, sighing. And all of a sudden he whipped out his sword, similar to the one trapping the other guy to the tree, and aimed for him again, but this time at his arm._

_I opened my mouth to scream but I was met with silence. Pushing myself forward to block the attack. I first felt the weapon cut into my back, coming out through the middle of my chest. My eyes had widened as I tried coughing up the blood. The pain felt like nothing I've ever felt before. The guy behind me was talking and I turned around, watching him with killing intent. He looked like it was pity that I got in the way, but he also looked hurt. But that didn't matter now. I felt my blood bumping faster than usual, harsher. The blade that was through me shattered into a million pieces, the wound closing, healing in seconds. I clenched my teeth together, letting out a growl, I think. Then I shot forward, ready to kill._

-

"Ahh!" I struggled to sit up in bed, panting, beads of sweat rolling down my face. It felt as if my heart would pop out of my chest, it was beating so fast. I glanced at the time.

6:45 AM

I counted down the five minute mark and my cellphone rang loudly, a hyper-like tune playing. Picking it up, I flipped it open, placed it against my ear and sighed.

_"Again?"_

"Yeah, Alice. I had the same dream."

_"That's just too weird, Bella. Maybe you should get help?"_

"I don't think they have anything where I could take pills to have a dreamless sleep. Plus, a psychiatrist would just sum it up as stress, or something."

_"I tried."_ She sang on the other line and I resisted the urge to sigh again.

"I know, I'm sorry. But this has been going on for a month now and I'm slowly going insane. You have no idea how much I miss sleeping in."

_"Take sleeping pills?"_

"Tried that. I still wake up at six forty-five. And I can't even get to sleep after, the dream is just too graphic."

_"Hypnosis?"_

"I do not even go there. I'd like to know what's going around me."

_"Well since you're up now, let's make breakfast for dad."_

"Don't you mean me? I know you're going back to sleep." There was a cheerful laughter on the other line before it went dead.

Blinking a couple times, I snapped my phone shut and placed it on the night table. I swung my legs to the side, off my bed, and stretched them, letting out a groan as a few bones cracked. I then stood and walked over to the wall beside my door, flipping the light switch open. I was temporarily blinded, blinking multiple times just to get semi-used to the light. Everything looked normal in my room. A single bed with dark blue sheets, pillow cases and blanket. The floor was rugged, making it easier to wake up in the morning without freezing you feet. A dresser, a closet, a large oval body length mirror, TV and a desk for my laptop.

Doing a look over once more, I stepped outside my room and glared towards the door next to mine. _'Damn you, Alice.'_ I thought childishly before making my way to the bathroom down the hall. I flipped the switch on, grabbing my toothbrush and paste over to the shower. I turned the water on, waiting until the temperature was just right before pulling up the nub, transferring the water from the tap to the shower head. Quickly as possible, I stripped and got in. I washed myself with my favorite body wash, which smelt like lilies and vanilla. Next was my hair, which I washed with Pantine's Full and Thick, while I brushed my teeth. Multitasking saves time.

I emerged from that bathroom within ten minutes of using it and walked back to my room. I headed straight for my dresser, pulling out a light blue t-shirt that had a cartoon cupcake on the front, smiling, and a pair of blue jeans. I opened another drawer to pull out a pair of clean white panties and socks. After getting dressed, I wrapped the towel around my head, much too lazy to dry it properly, before heading out my room and down the steps.

The sun was already trying to soak in through out curtains. I walked over to the living room and tugged down hard on the blind cords, causing the sun to shine right in my eyes, blinding myself for the the second time that morning.

After the black and white spots were gone I headed over to the kitchen and turned on the stove before going the fridge, getting out ingredients to make an baloney and cheese omelet. I reached for the radio, turning it on so I could listen to the news while I did my daily routine for the past month.

_"-- And there was yet another thunderstorm in Buffalo, causing multiple blackouts and houses to catch on fire from appliances. It seems that almost every two weeks a thunder storm happens in buffalo and is edging closer and closer to New York. Specialists are quickly trying to find out what exactly is causing these thunder storms to be so frequent before anymore damage can be done. In other news --"_

I turned it off, thinking it was too depressing for a early morning but nothing in the world was perfect. Like my damn dreams.

Just as I finished placing the golden brown omelet onto a plate, Charlie came down the stairs, dressed in a blue and brown plaid unbuttoned dress shirt, with a white undershirt under it, and brown slacks. He's an archaeologist so it varies how long he'll be gone. One time he was gone for two months, it was lucky that Alice and I had jobs to buy food, not that we run out since Charlie bought plenty to last six months. Even though we're loaded, we live in a normal house and have normal things. Charlie wants to save up his money for Alice's and my college fund, which he seemed kind of edgy about, for some reason. But today he was going back to the dunes, saying that he has something very important to find, a project he assigned himself.

"Breakfast smells good as usual, Bells." He took a quick whiff and sighed. I gave a small smile and set the plate on the table, along with a glass of orange juice, a fork and knife. He sat down, thanked me, and began eating in earnest.

I looked up at the time and realised that there was half an hour left until school. Time to wake up Alice. She loved getting her sleep and doing things are the last minute. Lucky little --

Soon I was knocking on her bedroom door. Moments later, she came out wearing a black shirt with a white undershirt that reached her elbows, faded blue jeans and her pack sack slung over her thin shoulder. I lightly snorted, giving her a smile. As usual, she used her stealthy ways to shower, dress up and apply light make-up while I made Charlie's breakfast. Her hair was jet black, having light tints of blue in it and was spiked at the back. Her hazel eyes wide and expressive.

"Good morning," Alice chirped, showing off her pearly whites. "I have a feeling that today is going to be a good day. I'm going to give dad a quick kiss before he leaves again for who knows how long."

"Okay, I'm just going to grab my bag and I'll join you shortly."

"Okay, but hurry. You know how dads mind is like scrambled eggs at times, forgetting to say goodbye before he leave." She laughed sadly and dashed towards and down the stairs.

I watched her bounce down the stairs like the little ball of energy that was she before giving my head a quick shake. I turned to my right and opened my bedroom door, scanning quickly before spotting my yellow bag sitting against the end of my bed post. Walking over, I scooped it up and over my right shoulder and headed back to the door before giving my room one last scan. Everything was in place. I grabbed onto the door handle and turned to shut the door behind me but movement from the corner of my eye caused me to stop.

I stared, wide-eyed as half a arm was sticking out of my body length mirror. My breathing stopped when I watched the pale hand moved a bit and began to grasp at the air. I made the mistake of blinking and it was suddenly gone as soon as it was there. A million things ran through my head but I couldn't pick one out, couldn't understand them. None of this made sense. You don't just see a arm poke out from your mirror every day. In fact, an arm shouldn't be poking out at all!

"Bella! Dad just left and we have to get to school!" Alice's voice rang out, breaking me from my thoughts and bringing me back down to reality.

"Just.. an illusion. I'm working too hard, that's all.. " I concluded. I really had to ask Jessica's mom to lessen my hours at the store.

I slammed my door shut, with more more force then needed, knocking down a picture frame off the wall.

"Ah!"

"Bella? You okay?"

"Yeah, sorry. Accidentally knocked off moms picture.. " I picked up the frame, grateful that the glass didn't shatter into pieces. I stared at the picture of my mother. She had died giving birth to me. That's what Charlie told me so I don't have any memories of her. In the picture, she wore her auburn hair down, letting it flow past her shoulder in waves, her wise brown eyes gazing into your soul. She wore a dark purple and brown shirt that looked to be at least a couple hundred years old but Charlie had said she always liked exotic clothing. She smiled, showing off laugh lines but now that I looked closer, her eyes seemed a little tense, worried. Charlie also said this was the last picture take before she died. Maybe she knew she wasn't going to make it.

"Bella! I'd like to get to class on time, Mrs. Newton's detentions aren't exactly my favorite part of the school year!"

That made me shiver physically. In Mrs. Newton's detentions, she made you sweep, mop and polish the gymnasium floors and clean the boys and girls bathroom. She was strict for a gym teacher and she loved 'her baby', also known as, 'her gym', to be squeaky clean before closing up. Alice and I learned the hard way when we were half an hour late one morning, barging through the gym doors, our shoes covered in mud while other students stopped their soccer game to stare at us. Mrs. Newton then gave us a ten minute lecture, gave us our detention slips and sent us off the wait on the benches until the rest of the class was over. But luckily three other kids got detention as well so we split up all the work.

"Coming!" Swiftly placing the picture frame back up on the wall, I clung to my pack sack strap and quickly jogged down the steps.

-

Panting heavily, Alice and I made it out of the dressing room ten seconds before Mrs. Newton walked in, eyeing everyone suspiciously. She went into her office for a brief moment before coming out with a clip board and red pen. Then one by one, she called out the students names, keeping her voice tight and professional. We had been to taught to raise our hand and say 'here' or 'present'. Alice swore that Mrs. Newton was most likely in the military before. After calling out everyone's names, she chewed the end of the pen, noticing that one or two students weren't here.

"Alright. I want ten laps around the gym in fifteen minutes. Go!" She picked the whistle up that was tied loosely around her neck and blew into it good and hard, sending most of us scrambling off to get ten laps done. She must have been having a good day. Usually on a bad day, it was fifteen laps in ten minutes. Or worse, ten laps in five minutes.

"I wonder what made her day so early in the morning. There was at least three students missing today." Alice commented, keeping a light paced jog beside me. I only shrugged.

"No idea."

"Hey girls." I mentally groaned but forced a smile.

"Hi, Mike." Alice and I said at the same time, making room for the teen to come in between us.

"Hey, Mike, what's gotten into your mom? She's usually such a grouch in the morning but she's taking an easy on us." He laughed and shook his head.

"Moms like a she-devil at school but at home, she's like the perfect little wife around my dad. They always act like they're on their first date or something, it gets annoying. But this morning he surprised her with a Pot of Gold chocolate box and white roses. He randomly buys stuff for her like a lovesick puppy, it makes me embarrassed to be around them." He then laughed uncomfortably and looked at me, flashing a overly-friendly smile. He was exactly like one of those lovesick puppies he talks about. For _me_. _Hypocrite._

I honestly don't know how Mike came to like me in the first place. Must have started when Alice and I came here for freshman year. At first he was friendly as a friend could be. Then in sophomore year he began buying my lunch for me, offering to go out for pizza with him sometimes. Now in junior year he's buying me gifts here and there. Sometimes a necklace, bracelets, teddy bears, flowers and even asking me to dinner at some expensive sounding restaurant. But I clearly refused them all, especially when the looks Jessica would me, scaring me half to death just when I looked in her direction.

Jessica Stanley. She's had long golden brown hair that was tied in a high pony tail. Her hazel eyes as sharp as a cats. She was childhood friends with Mike, backing him up whenever he seemed to be in a bind. She also happened to be the teachers pet, sucking up whenever she could. Mrs. Newton loved her and made no move to hide it, trying to urge her son to ask her out already. Whenever Mike would ask me out, Jessica showed up out of no where, always having an excuse to haul him away, which I was thankful for.

"So Bella.. do you have free time after school? Maybe we could --" I quickly cut him off, shattering any hope he had,

"Sorry Mike. Lately Mrs. Stanley has been giving me more work hours."

"That's right, Mike. Bella's too busy to hang out with us much anymore. Say, how about you and I --" Jessica had shoved her way in beside me, linking arms with Mike and slowed him down to her turtle like pace, all of this happening in less then twenty seconds.

"I don't know whether to be thankful or mad at her. She saves me from having to turn him down but too busy to hang out'? I can still hang out on weekends and there are rare moments when her mom lets me have a day off." I worried my bottom lip, trying to think of the last day I have been given off.

"Hey, Bella, don't you think it's weird that since Mike started giving you nice gifts and asking you out, that you got most shifts at work? Don't you think that's Jessica's doing?" I pondered at the idea. The timing did seem perfect..

"You're probably right. Ugh, what a pain. Jessica can be such a nice person but at other times, she can be so sneaky I wish she would be a little more obscure about it. Oh well, I guess I could use the few extra bucks."

"True. Now let's save our breath, we still have.. six more laps to go with seven minutes to spare. We're going to pick up our pace at the fifth lap if we want to make it on time." I groaned but nodded in agreement, shutting my trap.

By the time we finished out ten laps, my feet, legs, lungs and throat were burning. This was clearly torture to do so early in the morning. We finished twenty seven seconds before the time was up. Who ever didn't get their laps done in time had to do an extra three. Jessica's shocked look almost made me grin but I held back, walking off the run with Alice. After another five minutes, Mrs. Newton had gotten out a soccer ball, tossing it from one hand to the other.

"Now, now, _ladies_. We're not through working with out muscles yet! We're going to play soccer for the rest of the period. Ladies against the Gents. You have five minutes to gather into your respective teams and plan out your strategy. Go!" She blew the whistle she loved for much and everyone scrambled to get on either side of the court.

As usually, everyone decided that Alice was the captain. She may be a little on the short side but she had wits and agility. Mrs. Newton made sure to recruit her for the soccer tournament every year and successfully bringing the school a trophy every time.

Alice planned out every one's positions, always making sure to bench me because she knew how much I hated and sucked at sports. And Mrs. Newton agreed since she only gave me half marks for benching at soccer games. I watched Alice turn into the born leader that she was, pointing to who should go where. And exactly five minutes later, the whistle was blown and the games began. It made me a little jealous that she can lead a soccer team but I can't even lead a group of gamers on an online game. I tried to keep my eyes fixed on the ball but Mrs. Newton stood in my view, hands on hips.

"Don't think I'll always let you sit on the bench and do nothing. Time for some chores." I held back the groan. I got up and followed her into her office. "I want you to mark the freshmens fitness exam papers. Even if they made one spelling mistake, take off points."

"Yes ma'am." She nodded and left to go keep score of the game. Grabbing a red pen from her goofy animal pen holder, I took the answer sheet and began marking the freshmans papers.

By the time the period ended, I was only half way through and my wrist was already sore. Getting up, I set the pen down and made my way out of the office and over to the girls changing room. Alice was already changed back into her normal clothes and was waiting for me by my locker. I gave an apologetic smile before quickly changing into my own clothes.

"I'm just going to look in the mirror to make sure my make-up isn't smudged. Sweating that much for a soccer game should be illegal, the boys really didn't show mercy this time. I was surprised that it all came down to a tie." She laughed lightly and made her way over to the mirrors. I watched as she brushed her bangs a bit from her face and touched the back of her hair, making sure it was still spiky.

The thought of mirrors made me remember what happened this morning. 'I can't believe I forgot something like that.. or maybe I was really just dreaming.. but still.. ' I was so deep in though that I didn't realise Alice came to my side and noticed I didn't acknowledged her until she poked my cheek.

"Huh, what?" I looked to one side then the other.

"You're acting strange."

"Oh, yeah. Uhm, not really feeling well. Probably missing dad." I hated lying to her but I had to check for myself. "Can you make up an excuse for me? I think I'm going to call it a day."

"Oh, sure. Period cramps always gets them." She grinned and wished me good luck and to get well soon.

I called a taxi from the school, not wanting to wait any longer to check out the mirror. It began eating away at my brain. If I hadn't been busy in gym class, I would have most likely gone nuts by now from thinking about that damn arm through my mirror.

The cab stopped in front of the house and I gave him ten dollars, telling him to keep the tip since the change was only a dollar twenty-seven. I dashed towards the door, getting my house key out of my pocket, fumbling with it until I finally got it through the key hole and pushed open. After closing and locking it behind me, I took off my runners and sped upstairs, dropping my pack sack along the way. I sent Alice a text to tell her I was home before chucking the phone onto my bed. I stared at the mirror hard. Long and hard.

It seemed normal, ordinary. It was actually pretty old, or so Charlie said. He was it was my great grandmothers. Then my grandma's then passed down to my mother. He said that he was sorry that mom couldn't pass on the tradition to me but I told him not to worry about it. It was just an old mirror. It was oval, metal lining the glass and metal designed vines danced on the outside with a few bronze leaves.

I took a few steps forward, feeling my heart quicken. I didn't know what I was so afraid of. Maybe I was half expecting an arm, or a whole bunch of them, to pop out and grab me. But as I came closer, nothing happened. Now, standing directly in front of it, I didn't know what I had been so afraid of. I let out a low chuckle and extending my hand to touch the thin glass.

But as my hand got close to it, it began to glow a light blue. The feeling was warm and tingling my finger tips but I didn't pay attention to it. I watched with wide eyes as the blue glow outlined my hand, seeming to grow brighter.

"What the.. "

Believing that it's all because of this mirror, I used my hand that was glowing to push it away, hoping to shatter it. But instead, my hand went right _through_ it, causing me to lose my balance and stumble forward. I was expecting that this would bring the mirror to its death but instead the blue glow covered me in the warm tingling feeling.

And I fell through and into the mirror.

It looked as if I was in space for a split second before there was a bright flash and I was suddenly falling forward. The first thing I noticed was I was falling down onto _clouds_. But not just any clouds. They were _purple _clouds. I let out a blood curling scream as I thought that I was going to pass through these clouds then crash down to Earth in a couple nanoseconds. Thoughts of Alice, Charlie and mom ran through my head. But instead of falling through the clouds, I landed on them. Hard.

"O-ouch!" I furiously rubbed my chin as the nerves went into shock before quickly throbbing painfully. Looking down again, my heart quickened at the thought of falling through. I placed my hand down but was met with a flat, solid surface. It was as if the cloud was acting as the ground. A few loud shrills brought me out of my musings and I looked up to see a few young woman dressed in odd clothes.

"Fetch the guards! Report to the king! Someone has fallen through the World Gate Mirror!" One of them shouted, pointing upwards before scampering off.

Sourly, I looked up and indeed. Up there was a mirror that looked exactly like mine. Except this mirror was in the sky.. of in the sky. I had no clue what to call it or this place but I knew I had to hide somewhere. I swiveled my head around before deciding the run through some run down back alleys. I found a damp but large box to hide under. I held my breath when I heard stomps of pass by on the streets, the sounds of "hup-hup-hup" in sync with their steps.

I waited until I couldn't hear them anymore before letting the shock finally settle in.

"What.. the hell just happened?"

-

A/N: I actually wanted to finish most of this story before posting it up. But my laptop got a virus, I couldn't access anything. Brought it in, told the dude to delete the problem and he gives me back a clean swiped laptop. Everything gone. The next Blindingly Beautiful chapter.. I was half way done. Well.. at least I did this on my dads laptop.

-sigh- Sorry everyone, things might take awhile.

BottledCoke


	2. Chapter 2

One Winged Angel

Chapter 2 - Foam Surprise.

Jukebox: Super Honeymoo - Owl City

-

Bella's P.o.V

-

"This has to been a dream.. " I repeated to myself over and over again, knees up to my chest, arms wrapped around them, rocking back and forth. I had been hoping that this really was just a dream, praying that is was different from the one I had been having for a month. But the numbness in my butt told me otherwise. I knew I had been sitting in this box for a couple hours but I didn't want to risk getting caught, no matter how cramped I was in here.

Earlier, I was in much shock, my brain unable to process this unfortunate event. I tried pinching my arm, nothing happened. I then slapped myself but still, nothing happened. I wanted to go into a fit of hysterical cries, calling Alice or Charlie but I knew that would do me no good, least get me caught. So I stared down at the.. cloud like floor below me. I just couldn't grasp how I did not fall through the clouds or why they're purple. I actually tried punching at the ground, just to see if I could get through some how but it felt hard as a paved ground should. I then had to bite my other hand from screaming out, hadn't been expecting to his the cloud ground _that_ hard.

I continued to stare at the clouds below me, glaring once in awhile. 'I thought they were suppose to be soft.' And then suddenly, slowly, they began to change into a orange color, like the color orange of a tabby cat. I watched in amazement at the change happening before my eyes and I couldn't take it any longer, I had to get out before I really screamed. I flipped the box over and struggled to stand up, my legs aching. I watched as the orange engulfed over the purple until I couldn't see it no more, which was soon because I realised that it was dark.

"Night time?" I asked myself, feeling rather stupid.

Peeking around the ally corners, I notice that slowly, everyone in their houses began to shut their lights off, getting ready to sleep through the night. The streets were totally empty except for a few cats with.. twin tails. Rubbing furiously at my eyes, I blinked a couple hard times but the cats still had two tails.

I ducked back into the ally or else if I watched the cats any longer, I'd probably faint. _'I have to find a way back up to the mirror.'_ Nodding, I went back through the way I first came, glancing around the corners to make sure no one was around. Soon enough I was standing in what seemed to be the middle of the town. It was a whole round area with a fountain in the middle. On the outskirts of it was stores and homes. And North from the fountain was a golden set of stairs, swirling all the way up to the mirror. I was ready to make a run for it but the four guards at the bottom of the steps stopped me from doing so. The armor was fully white gold, covering them from head to toe, even their faces being hidden except for a bar across the eyes to allow them to see.

Swiftly and quietly as I could, I jumped back into the shadows of the ally, placing a hand over my heart. It was beating so fast. If I'm caught, what would happen? Would they throw me in jail until I rot? Or would they chop off my head? Maybe make me into a whore? Or, just maybe, they'll smile,shake my hand and show me how to get back home, knowing it was all just a honest mistake on how I got here in the first place.

I sighed, shaking my head. As if that would happen. They would probably just do one of the first three options. Or maybe all, after I was used up and old as dirt. The thoughts sent chills down my spine. Deciding that I might as well spend my night inside of that box, I turned around and knocked into something.. or someone. Clenching my eyes and mouth close, I waited for my back to connect with the ground. It never came. Slowly, I opened my eyes and noticed that the stranger had grabbed my wrist and a hand on my waist, to steady me.

"Uhm.. "

"Are you alright?" Looking up, I now noticed it was a guy who I bumped into. He gave a light tug of my wrist and I was flat on my feet again.

"I'm fine.. thanks."

"No problem. You're not from around here, are you?"

"Uhm, no, I'm not."

"A traveler?"

"Y- yes."

"Ah, that explains the weird clothing."

I look up and squinted through the darkness. From what I can see, this guy had jet black, shaggy hair that hung above his shoulders, smooth chocolate brown eyes and tanned skin. He wore a dark blue tunic shirt and white khaki pants.

"What are you going out here at night? Last time I check, Adventurers usually stay in a hotel or if someone is nice enough, they'll allow travelers to stay in their homes." He grinned, showing off his pearly whites. I slowly began to relax, not feeling any danger coming from him.

"W-well I came here earlier in the day and some women freaked out about my clothes then began calling for guards. Without thinking, I ran into the ally and hid under that box." I pointed to it and blushed,embarrassed. He laughed and patted my shoulder.

"Well you're just in luck. I also happened to travel here today to get a friend of mine some clothes but I think she can wait a bit longer. I'll also give you some mesos, since adventurers usually do work on the streets to earn something."

"Oh, you don't have to! I appreciate the help and all but I'm really fine." _'Actually, I'm pretty hungry.'_

"Don't worry about it. I want to give the stuff to you. Must be because you're so cute." He then winked and handed a paper bag to me. He then rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a couple odd looking bills and coins.

"This should be enough to get you two nights at the hotel and at least ten meals."

"Thank you, really, this means so much to me."

"No worries. Now, if I could get your name in return?" Ah, smooth talker.

"It's Bella." _'Never tell strangers your full name, no matter how nice or persistent they are..'_ Charlies words ran through my head.

"Nice to meet you, Bella. I'm Jacob."

"Nice to meet you, too."

"Well I should get going. My friend hates to be kept waiting. I hope to see you later on." He gave a quick salute with two of his fingers before running off into the darkness.

I stared awhile longer, feeling extremely grateful for what he did. Taking long glances all around me, to make sure no one was around, I quickly stripped of my clothing and put on the clothes Jacob gave me. It was a long pale blue tunic dress with a pair of puffy pale blue tunic pants to go with it. I then took out the.. mesos from the bag, eyeing it. _'It must be their currency.'_ I thought before putting it in my pocket. After throwing the bag into the trash, I walked out onto the street.

It felt odd, as if I was naked and everyone would see who I really was. But I shook the feeling off and soon found a tavern called "The Gold Range". The woman behind the counter was wearing a red bustier with white laces and a skirt too short for my liking. Her make-up was heavy and her pale blond hair was done up in a bizarre way. She looked me up and down before placing a hand on her big hips.

"What can I do for ya, hun?"

"I w-would like to stay for two nights, if you have any rooms available."

"Two nights will be fifty-six mesos." She held out her hand flat and tapped her foot. Hurriedly, I took the money out of my pocket and I noticed her eyeing it greedily. I counted quickly as I could, twice, before giving her the money. She then handed me a key with a wooden handle stuck to it with the numbers "22" on it. She pointed to the corner of the bar and I made my way through the drunks, stumbling when I felt hands trying to grab onto me. But I made it and ran up the stairs until I got to the second floor and to the third door. I stuck the key into the key hole, twisted it, pulled out and opened the door.

The room wasn't exactly anything to brag about. Wooden floors, thin flowery curtains, a single cot pushed against the wall, pealing wallpapers and no T.V. I locked the door and walked over to the bed, placing the key onto the desk beside it, and pulled back the covers.

_'Oh thank goodness, they're clean!'_ I mentally thought and got in, pulling the blankets up until half my face was covered. _'Mhm, the blankets are thick too.' _I felt all of today's events catch up to me, over powering my hunger. And slowly, I fell asleep.

-

The sun shined brightly through the thin curtains, the warm pool of light landing directly on my face. I groaned, grabbing the blanket and pulling it up over my face. I began counting down the five minutes until Alice would call but it never came. Sitting up with a gasp, I looked all around before last nights events came crashing down on me. The feeling of being lonely over-came me hard, making my shoulders slump forward.

"I guess Alice wouldn't be able to call me, I chucked my phone onto my bed. But.. I never had that dream." I actually didn't dream at all. It was sort of a relief yet weird. I thought I would have gotten used to being woken up early by that dream but I now felt a little empty.

Numerous of talking and noises from the window grabbed my attention. Flipping off the blanket and swinging my legs over, I placed my feet on the ground and hissed at the coolness of the wood. Ignoring the feeling quickly, I tip-toed over to the window and looked out. Many woman were setting up shops while kissing their husbands and children good bye. It looked really crowded down there, people unable to move somewhere without having to bump into someone else or something. It also looked weird to see them walking on the clouds.

"This whole place is weird. Clothing, currency, everything." The painful gurgle of my stomach reminded me how hungry I was.

I grabbed the key off the night table and went into the bathroom, making sure my hair wasn't so messy that I had to stay indoors. I might have to use some of this money to buy some things since I don't know how long I would be here. 'Hopefully I can get through that mirror soon.'

Half an hour later, I was seated down stairs in the tavern, quickly noticing it was much more quiet then it was last night. The woman from last night was still working, even early in the morning, and when she dropped off a menu, I got a look at some fresh hickeys on her neck.

Opening the menu, I planned ahead that I would order bacon and eggs, but would check what they have anyways. And it was not what I was expecting.

_Escadu (Star shaped Bread) . . . 4.50 Mesos_

_Foski (Soggy Bread) . . . 3.00 Mesos_

_Miron (Moon Eggs) . . . 4.50 Mesos_

_Jask (Hallow Eggs) . . . 4.50 Mesos_

_Kul (Dancing Noodles) . . . 5.00 Mesos_

It was all of what they had on their breakfast menu. And it scared the shit out of me. Dancing Noodles? Soggy Bread?! Gulping, I flipped the menu over and glanced at the drinks.

_Foam Blueberry . . . 1.00 Mesos_

_Foam Strawberry. . . 1.00 Mesos_

_Foam Honey. . . 1.00 Mesos_

_Foam Sugar Sugar Blast. . . 5.00 Mesos_

_Foam Vanilla. . . 1.00 Mesos_

_Foam Chocolate. . . 1.00 Mesos_

_Foam Tea. . . 1.00 Mesos_

_Foam Surprise . . . 1.00 Mesos_

Foam? I would need at least an hour to decide what I wanted to drink and eat, possibly see what the foods looked like but the barmaid came back, note pad in one hand and a wooden pencil in the other.

"What'll it be, hun?"

"Uhm, Escadu and Kul with Foam Sugar Sugar Blast." She rose a single brow at me but said nothing as she collected my menu.

I waited a total of ten minutes before two plates and a glass of foam was set in front of me. I stared. The Escadu bread was really indeed shaped like bread and it was _thick _and_ rich_ looking. Three slices of it. And the Kul.. the noodles.. were really dancing, squiggling around in the bowl. But aside from that, they were orange. Was it old? Out dated?

"Uhm, miss? Why is the food orange?" This time, she did not bother hiding her rude expression.

"What? Haven't eaten a day in your life or what? Today is Orange, so the food syncs with the day. Sheesh. Kids these days and their bad jokes." She slapped a rag onto the counter top before going through a door behind the bar.

I looked back down at my meal and gulped. _'Today is Orange? What is that suppose to mean? Is that why the clouds turned orange?'_ My stomach growled practically loud when the aroma of the food fill my nostrils. Even though it may look weird, it sure smelled delicious.

Picking up my fork, I poked the moving noodles, squeaking when they began to move more violently. Hesitantly, I picked up a piece of the thick star shaped bread. I sniffed it before taking a small bite. I saw stars. The bread was chewy, almost like an angel food cake, and it tasted _orgasmic_. I couldn't even begin to explain what it tasted like, it felt like thousand different pleasing flavors was running all over my taste buds. It was so good that I ended up finishing the rest of the star shaped breads in minutes. And by the time I was done, I was stuffed.

"But the Kul.. " Glancing at the noodles, I had the resist the urge to gag but remembering my Foam Sugar Sugar Blast, I turned from the bowl and picked up my glass. _'Looks harmless.' _I mused before tilting the glass but the foam only moved down sluggishly. Frustrated, I inhaled, causing all of the foam to come into my mouth. I had expected it to taste really sugary like its name but it tasted only a little sweet and a little bitter. All in all, it was actually really good and it made me feel refreshed, energized.

"Wow, are you royalty?"

"Wha?" I turned to look back at the counter. The barmaid had come out and was staring at me with wide eyes.

"Royalty. Are you from the castle? It's weird for royalty to be traveling alone. Let alone stay at a lowly tavern when they have their own homes to stay in."

"Uhm, no, I'm not. I'm just a regular traveler."

"That's.. odd. Only royalty can drink Foam Sugar Sugar Blast. It's almost like a energy drink for them or just something pleasing to drink. Any regular drinks will make them want to vomit. And normal people can't drink it because it's waaay too sugary for them and it puts them in pain for five minutes. I thought you were an odd one when you ordered that, thought you were the type to enjoy pain." I paled at her words and looked at my empty glass.

"Well.. I'm stuffed. I thought I was pretty hungry but it appears not. May I have this Kul wrapped up for later?"

"Sure. And you owe me 14.50 Mesos for breakfast and the drink."

"Okay." I dug into the pocket of the tunic dress, counting the bills and change before handing the right amount over to the barmaid. She had already wrapped up the Kul and handed it over to me. I made sure to place it in my room before heading out of the tavern and into the busy streets.

In an instant, I was pushed into the throng of people, unable to get back out. I sighed and just decided to go with the flow, since I had nothing better to do. Still had to plan on how to get back home but in broad daylight, I'm sure everyone would be watching.. Guess I'll just listen on in around me.

"Momma, momma! Let's visit the prince and give him our blessings!"

"Now honey, we gave him our blessings yesterday. Wait at least one week before going again, it might not do us any good if we annoy the prince."

"Zair, you would be _so_ jealous if you knew how the prince looked at me when he gives speeches."

"Give me a break, Maroon. He doesn't give you any look, he gives everyone the same look."

"Hey, Bane. Ready for a long day at work?"

"Ahah, Zork, don't talk crazy so early in the morning. Who would be so cheerful about working.. besides you."

_'So there really is royalty living here. I wonder if they're nice to their people. Well duh, if they weren't, they wouldn't have any of this, I suppose. I wonder if they would know anything about the mirror.'_ I walked into the middle of the town, the round space filled with chattering people. From this point of view, I could see behind the golden stairs where there was a path, looking more grand then others. _'Maybe it's this way to the palace.' _Walking forward until I was right behind the golden stairs, two guards came forward, stopping me from going further.

"What's your business at the palace?" My heart pounded as I thought up an excuse. Quickly, I bowed my head.

"I am a traveler from the, uhm, West, and I would like to give the prince my blessings before I move on to my next destination."

"From the West?" The other guard asked. "It's rare to see travelers from Renzia, since it's so far. Don't Renzians usually have tails?" He tried looking behind me but I clasped my hands behind my back and smiled as sadly as I could.

"I'm a half breed."

"Oh, you poor thing. You must have been picked on a lot."

"Sorta, yeah."

"Well welcome to Cullen Kingdom! We hope you enjoy your stay!"

"Thank you very much." They smiled and made way for me to squeeze past them before they stopped the next person.

_'There's people that have tails?' _I shivered, remembering the cats from last night. I took the path, which was perfectly straight and had 'flowers' to help guide me but instead of the usual petals, it looked as if it were bubbles. The walk was a little quiet, with a few mutterings of people passing by me to go back to town, but other than that I could hear my own foot steps. I'm not sure how long the walk was but by the time I reached the castle, my feet were aching. I bent down and rubbed them, a frown settling on my face. Suddenly green light surrounded my hands and where I rubbed my feet, the pain would dull to a throb before going away completely.

"Whoa!" I straightened and stumbled back while staring at my hands in amazement. "They glowed just like yesterday when I got near the mirror, but the glow was green this time and my feet are relieved.. "

I walked in circles a couple of times and to my amazement, my feet no longer hurt. _'This is too weird.'_ I mentally whined before focusing on my destination once more. There must have been fifty steps leading up to the castle but I didn't get discouraged. I did two steps at a time until after a minute, feeling the strain in my legs. _'Guess this is what I get for benching for most of the sports.'_ But in ten minutes I was at the top, staring at the white gold porcelain castle.

Wide double doors were open for the public. I saw a couple walk through them, the woman holding a baby close to her and her husband. They ignored me and walked down the steps, the woman humming happily. Shaking my head, I walked on forward, keeping my gaze straight ahead. Must not get carried away by looking at the beautiful things..

When I got to the end of the long hall, I noticed the line of people. There must have been thirty or so. Sighing, I got behind a middle-aged man and decided to try not to be impatient. But curiosity got the best of me and I cocked my head to the side, watching people kneel in front of someone with messy bronze hair and rich looking, silk clothes. It wasn't until two hours have passed when the middle-aged man left, meaning it was my turn.

"Come forth." Demanded a guard, picking up his spear and slamming it back down to the marble floor, causing a loud noise to echo within the room. I squeaked and scrambled forward in font of the prince, dropping to my hands and knees, bowing.

"What is your name?" Came a smooth voice. I guess it was the prince who spoke this time.

"Bella, sir."

"Bella." I shivered, the way it rolled off his tongue was weird yet enjoyable. "What a rare name in our world. Last name?" Rare? Bella sure is used a lot on Earth. So where exactly am I?

"It's.. Newton." Sorry and thanks, Mike. You were the only persons last name I could think of, sadly.

"Bella Newton. Humm, doesn't sound right. Anyways. Where are you from?" You bet your ass it doesn't sound right.

"I am from West of here, Renzia."

"So far! Aren't you suppose to have a tail?"

"I'm a half breed, sir."

"I see, I see. And what brings you here, traveler from Renzia?"

"I'm here to ask for guidance. To find my way back home."

"Lost?"

"I am, sir."

"I'm truly sorry. You have my blessing."

"Thank you, you're too kind." I lifted my head, feeling the blood rush, causing me to feel dizzy.

When I focused on the prince's face, I could see that he was really beautiful. He had untamed bronze hair, smothering emerald green eyes and a pair of full lips. His skin was light and it went well with his creamy silk robes. He blinked, clearly surprised by my action but then his brows furrowed as he began to stare me down. Feeling slightly panicked, I bowed my head again and got up. Then very awkwardly, I began to walk away, ignoring the stares.

I heard the prince speak, but I didn't understand now that I was quiet far away from him. A guard yelled out to me though, loud and clear. And I ran for it. I ran until I was out of the palace, away from the guards and back into the safety of the creaky tavern.

-

A/N: Enjoy, Enjoy!

BottledCoke


	3. Chapter 3

One Winged Angel

Jukebox: Xepher - DDR SuperNOVA

Chapter 3 - Forked Road.

* * *

-

Bella's P.o.V

-

When I got back to the tavern and up in my room, I headed straight for my Kul, suddenly feeling really hungry. I grabbed the plastic fork, twirled it around the noodles, placed it in my mouth and swallowed, pretending not to enjoy the way it felt going down my throat. After the blessing thingy with the prince, I had felt strange, kind of light headed and hungry. I scarfed down the Kul in no time and stumbled over to the bed, flopping down on my back.

I remember shutting my eyes but when I opened them, it was dark in the room. I sat up and felt my muscles ache from being in a position too long. _'Did I fall asleep?' _I pondered but the sound of shoes pounding up the steps startled me from my thoughts. Seconds later, the barmaid slammed opened my door. 'Didn't I lock that.. ?'

"You! Out! Get out!"

"What? What did I do?!"

"The prince is looking for you! He has his guards all over the place! A few of them came to my tavern and read out your description and threatened that if I'm hiding you, they'll kill me!"

"Do you know what the prince wants me for?"

"Don't know, don't care! Get OUT!" She screeched and I finally got the message, scrambling pass her, down the stairs and out the tavern.

Once out into the streets I noticed people running in different directions, getting out of the way for the soldier men that now stomped in my direction. Panicking, I headed in the opposite direction, heading down ally after ally, noticing it was getting darker at every corner I turned. The only reason why I haven't tripped and fallen on my ass was because every step I took, the clouds would light up and slowly fade after I lifted my foot from the ground. I wish it would go out quicker, it was too risky that someone could follow my path and capture me.

I continued walking until I was further away from the noise, few people shrieking, doors slamming open. Are the kings men barging into homes looking for me? The thought sort of made me feel bad.

"Why oh why am I getting chased in the first place? Maybe they'll throw me in jail for being rude to the prince, suddenly running off like that.. But on the other hand, what does one when when they're being chased after men in suits of armor?

I settled behind a tall building, leaning against the black brick wall. Just how big was this place? It kind of seemed endless. And the air seemed so pure, it was a refreshing break from all the smog back at home.

Sigh.

"What am I suppose to do now?"

"I think you should come back with me, calmly."

I jerked away from the voice, which was strangely close, and fell on my butt. I stared up in horror at the prince, who was grinning too proudly before me. He was wearing some pretty fancy clothes, not as fancy as this mornings cream coloured robes but still fancy.

"How.. how did you find me?! And so quietly, I didn't even hear you.. " His grin widened, making me flinch back further. His personality seemed so different. This morning he seemed to polite, robotic almost but now he acted like a human being. A _cocky_ human being.

"While you were rushing to leave earlier today, I placed a spell or two on you so tracking would be easier."

"Spell? You mean as in magic?" At this, he cocked his head towards me.

"Were you just born this morning? I thought Renzian's held more knowledge than this." I ignored his jibe towards my intelligence, which held none for this place.

"Seriously, spells?"

"You really don't know what I'm talking about?"

"Magic, hocus, pocus, bibbity bobbity boo!" I gave him a "You're one crazy person" look but he seemed to mirror my image.

"You don't believe in magic?"

"No. They're just illusions people do to earn a couple bucks."

"Bucks?"

"Yeah, cash, money."

"You have a weird vocabulary."

"Speak for yourself, _mesos_." I muttered the last word, looking away.

"Allow me to guide you back to the castle where we'll talk properly. I'm not very fond of talking behind a building in the dark."

"Excuse me for being rude, sir, but I rather stay here."

"You will come." His voice held such authority, I almost wanted to go with him willingly.

"No, I will not. You can't make me."

"I very well can. You're a stranger in my city. And I can clearly tell you're not from Renzia. They are smart folk and take caution in other towns. Plus they travel in groups to avoid ambush, they are the second riches to our city. As you probably have seen, it is pretty grand."

"Gloat all you want, I'm not impressed by anything but these clouds." I looked down at the pieces of fluff drawing random doodles with my index finger. The images stayed for a moments before returning to their original state.

"The ground amuses you? It's nothing special." He pressed his hand against it and took it off. The light lingered there for a few seconds before dying down.

"What do you want with me?" It came out as a whisper but he heard me.

"I'm curious about you and your lack of knowledge drives me further on."

"Quit questioning my knowledge!"

"Then come with me to my castle, I will treat you well."

"What's the difference between here and there?"

"Look at me, Bella." His voice changed from annoyed to smooth, I couldn't help but look up at him.

Once my eyes met his, they began to glow green. Not a complete green, you could still see his pupil and whites, but the colour of his eyes gave off a more vibrant glow. Suddenly my eye lids grew heavy, my limbs

sluggish. He called me name again and my jaw slacked.

"Come with me, Bella. Let's go to my castle."

"Prince.. " I didn't want this. A part of me was screaming, demanding to snap out of this trance. Something was building inside of me.

"Come on." He held out his hand for me to grab. He had large hands, compared to my small ones. Were they soft as fleece or rough like sand paper? My breathing came out heavier as I fought against this force. It tugged and soothed me, assuring nothing but happy feelings to come. But the feeling was a lie. I knew it.

I grit my teeth and bared them at him, as if I was some kind of animal. A scream was ripped from my throat as I threw myself back. The power I had felt building up snapped at me like an elastic breaking, knocking me a couple feet from the prince. I ended up hitting a building, getting the breath knocked out of me.

"What the.. " I heard him start to say but darkness clouded my vision as I passed out.

-

_The urge to kill ran through my veins, pumping, pumping, pumping, I was ready kill. They, no, _he _would pay for what he did. I should have never accepted his trust._

I gasped roughly and loudly, beads of sweat running down my face. My eyes were wide as my chest heaved quickly, my heart beating tripled times the normal amount, I thought I would die. Suddenly there was a warm feeling around my wrists but it turned to to a hot sizzle and then to a full blown burning feeling.

Clutching the silk blankets, I screamed, the feeling hurting more then everything I had ever felt. I hoped, prayed, that I would pass out from the pain but as soon as it came, it left. I was left feeling shocked, after shocks running throughout my body. Unwanted tears poured down my cheeks as the prickling feeling left my head slowly. After a moment, I could breath properly again and I began to shake uncontrollably. What the hell just happened?

Glancing down to my wrists, I saw twin black rings circling them. It looked as if I got a tattoo and there was still steam coming out.

"Oh, that woke you up?" I snapped my head up in the direction of the voice, finding the prince at the end of the bed. He had a sympathetic smile on his face. Next to him was an older man with overly large white robes lined with gold thread lining it. He wore a tall round gold hat, hiding most of his blond hair beneath it. He had a worried expression on his face while keeping his hands held up in front of him.

"What the FUCK did you do to me?!" I scream, shoving my wrists up in front of me. This action made me wince but I didn't care at the moment.

"I merely got you branded so I can track where you are at all times. And it's pretty useful too. If you ever needed me, place your wrists together and I'll appear. And watch your language, a lady shouldn't use such dirty words." My mouth popped open, my eyes widening.

"Edward, you shouldn't be so blunt." The elder man lightly scolded the prince.

"But, dad, she's a weird one. And you got to admit that she looks familiar."

"She does, that's why I only agreed to this. I thought you said she agreed to this too."

"Yeah, right. You kidnapped me!"

"Hey now, you told me you didn't believe in magic. Yet when I used it on you, you somehow defended yourself against me. But you used too much and blasted yourself back and hit a building."

"She resisted your magic?" The elder man asked, shock written all over his face.

"Yeah, I forgot to mention that." The prince looked away embarrassed.

"Sir, can you please get that lunatic away from me!" I pleaded, throwing the blankets off, ready to crawl off the overly large bed and run but then I noticed.. I only had on my underwear and bra. Screaming, I grabbed the blanket again and huddled under it. "Who undress me?!"

"A maid." The prince answered easily, as if what he saw was no big deal. Probably wasn't, he probably gets laid every night.

"Edward, you shouldn't be so carefree, you're frightening the girl."

"But isn't it amusing? Her reactions are kind of cute."

"_Excuse me." _I growled and kicked under the blanket to express my anger.

"Pardon my rudeness, I am Carlisle, king of Cullen Kingdom."

"King?" I managed to squeak, pulling the blanket down to my shoulders and giving half a bow. "No, I'm sorry, please forgive me for being so rude." Please don't chop my head off.

"No, no. I shall take the blame. My son didn't tell me much about you when he brought you in and I went along with him without asking your permission. Sadly, those magic rings that are tattooed onto your wrists won't come off easily. It takes days." He frowned, putting his hands into the over sized sleeves.

"I don't have days.. and why does it take such a long process when it only took you such a short amount of time to put them on?"

"I am one of the most powerful magic users in this world and casting magic upon another will take my and others help to get it off. So I would have to send out notice for help but they have the choice to help me out or not.."

"Great.. "I sighed, looking down at the shiny cream blanket. "Why would you guys need to track me anyways? It's not like I can go where I want to."

"Because you intriuged us. When Edward told me what happened, I was amazed. Someone who doesn't know about magic yet used it themselves? Obviously there's some lying going on."

"But I didn't know I could use magic. I have never used it a day in my life until today."

"Interesting" Edward mumbled, staring me down. "Dad, do you think.. ?"

"No, it's no possible."

They both continued to talk while staring at me. Pointing out my pros and cons. Mostly the cons. And I had a feeling they won't let me out of their sight, having someone with me at all times. I could tell them I'm from.. the other side of the mirror. But even that sounds crazy to me. Plus I no longer have a reason to hide it, since they are suspicious of me enough as it is.

"I need that mirror, the one in the middle of your kingdom." They stopped their conversation and looked at me again.

"That is impossible." The king waved his hand, as if to toss away the idea. "Only royalty can pass through the Phaze Portal."

"Well maybe I was royalty in the past life, since I can drink Foam Sugar Sugar Blast." They gasped and inched closer.

"It must have been a cheap imitation, or you were stupid enough to drink it and claimed to others you're royalty." The prince furrowed his brows in thought.

"Then allow me to prove it. Bring me to the.. 'Phaze Portal' and I'll pass through."

"That is a possibility." Said that King, rubbing his chin in thought.

"Dad, she could be working for the dark side!" Edward his, jabbing his finger in my direction.

"No, if she was, she wouldn't leave herself so vulnerable like this."

"It could be a trick."

"There's also no traces of The Damned, Cursed or Black."

"What?" I questioned.

"There are three types of dark magic users." The king began to explain as he paced the room. "The Damned. People who are forced to use Black Magic. Black Magic itself is an addiction, a personal drug. After hours of using it, you won't be able to stop. The Cursed. People who are born with Black Magic. People say it's a curse but those born with it enjoy every bit of it. And there's the main course, The Black. Thousands of years ago, a king had practised with powerful magic, sowing it together with sorrowful, sad things. After years of training, he was able to create Black Magic. From there on, everyone in his family all three, Damned, Cursed, Black.

But the family had died out long ago to a war that was between White and Black Magic. Except the evil powers are still being passed down to families. People have been Damned to the magic and they forced others to learn it. So they're still roaming around, just carefully hidden from plain view."

"Wow.. three types of magic. There's only one type from where I live and it's only an illusion."

"But magic isn't an illusion." Edward shot back, raises a brow at me.

"Well I'm not some lunatic! We're from two different worlds! Just let me go back to mine!" I jumped out of the bed, causing the two to freeze in shock. I used this chance to escape from the room and down the many halls of the palace.

There was several yells from behind me but I ignored them. I also ignored the looks I got from people. Just pretend I'm wearing a lot of clothes and everything will be good. But the shrieking women and whistling guys didn't really help lower my embarrassment.

There were too many close calls of guards catching me. But somehow, I would manage to barely slip by. I'm sure if the king or the prince decided to come for me themselves, I'm sure they would succeed. After, what seemed like hours, I finally found the exit to the castle.

Bursting through the doors, a chill wind hit my skin, sending me into shiver shocks. I noticed it was dark out. _'Did I pass out for awhile or a whole day?' _Shaking my head, I continued to run, ignoring the throbbing pain in my heels. The yells of guards from behind made me push myself more as I began to feel the burning begin in my thighs. _'I promise to not bench in gym class anymore so please just get me through!'_

And just like that, I was whipping past people, breezing by them easily, missing them by mere inches. It all seemed so natural, as if this was an every day occurrence. But I wasn't super fast. I wasn't even a blur. People saw, some screeched at me, or screamed while trying to get out of the way. But it was getting me to my destination.

The _Phaze Portal_.

And that's all that mattered.

All too soon, I saw grand gold stairs spiraling up to the mirror, glowing a path all the way up. I wasted no time running up them, feeling like I could run for an hour or so even with the burning now running down my legs. It was then I saw the king and prince sprinting towards me with the same speed I was going out. Alarms went off in my head as I kept pushing.

_Boom._

Right above me, the golden stairs blasted away, leaving a big gap, meaning restricting me from going any farther. Looking down, I saw Edward staring at me, his eyes glowing green as it did before. He began to climb up the stairs after me while the King stayed on the ground, giving orders to the guards. I looked up and swallowed. I was done for. But if I were to have.. magic, like they said I do, would I be able to jump up? Of course, I don't expect to have all kinds of magical powers, like having world peace and what not. But if I was simply run faster, would I be able to jump higher. I looked down to my bare feet and noticed tiny micro white wings on both of my ankles. They were sort of long and flapped when I moved.

"Please, help me jump." I whispered to them. And it worked. I think. I felt a warm feeling run throw my veins and I released a relaxed sigh.

One..

Two..

Three!

I bent down and jumped up, using whatever force I had left. Higher and higher I went. In seconds, I flew through the huge gap and landed at the step before the space. Only then I let a nervous laugh leave my mouth. _Of course_ I had doubts of not making it and falling to my doom. But now I'm close to the mirror. This is my chance and I wont be stopped.

After my little stunt, I heard more screaming and yelling, this time from the citizens below.

"She's getting too close to the Phaze Portal!"

"I bet she's working for the dark side!"

"Someone stop her!"

I wanted to tell them to shut up but there was a very pissed off prince on my trail.

A few seconds later, I was standing at the very top. Looking down onto the kingdom, it reminded me of those professional sky-high diving boards. But this one had a mirror at the end.

_'Huh? There's a mirror on top.'_ Stepping close, I kneeled down and looked under the old looking glass frame. There was also a mirror on the bottom. _'So that must mean you go in one way and come out the other.'_

"Bella, stop!" I gasped and whirled around. There stood the prince, looking as if he hadn't run up a million steps while I was sweating bullets, huffing and puffing.

"Why are you trying to stop me?"

"I'm curious about you, please stay."

"Don't be a brat. I don't belong here."

"You don't know that! You said yourself that you came through the Phaze Portal and that you can drink Foam Sugar Sugar Blast! You could be royalty-- "

"Shut up, shut up! I don't believe you! Just awhile ago you and the king were saying it wasn't possible!"

"Eugh.. "

"That's what I thought. Please, let me go. I don't belong here. I want to go home."

"Please, just stay. We'll study you." Now that pissed me off. I glared and flipped him off.

"Screw you, Edward!"

Turning around, I used the super speed I had and took four quick steps before diving into the mirror. At first I felt resistance, then the familiar blue glow began to surround me. I welcomed the odd space looking place before a bright light was shined into my eyes and I landed, face first, on a rug.

***

A/N: People demanded so here it is. I hope you can picture this chapter like I can. I find it kind of amazing.

Enjoy!

Bottledcoke


	4. Chapter 4

One Winged Angel

Jukebox: Dance In The Dark - Lady Gaga

Chapter 4 - Food.

* * *

-

Bella's P.o.V

-

The feeling of rug burn wasn't very pleasant. I landed on the floor with a loud "thud" and skidded forward, my chin taking in most of the abuse. A pained yelp escaped my lips, my body curling into a fetal position. My fingers poked, rubbed and fondled my chin quickly, testing out the damage. The door was suddenly swung open, revealing my sweet, dear, baby sister, Alice. She stood in the door way with her white tank top and shorts, switching to her defense stance with a baseball bat in hand.

"I swear I'll beat your head into the floor if you don't tell me what you're doing here!"

"A- Alice!"

".. Bella?" She looked down, finally taking notice of me. Her eyes slowly grew wide, disbelieving.

"It's me, I'm here.. "

"Bella.. "Tears rolled down her cheeks, shoulders shaking. Before I could get up to hug her, she tackled me to the floor, causing the air from my lungs to escape. But I hugged her back. Or tried to. When my wrists rubbed against her cotton shirt, it stung badly. But I grit my teeth and held onto Alice. She was more important at this moment, not some silly tattoos.

Alice suddenly leaned back, slapped me than embraced me again. I sat there, wide eyes and stunned. Bringing a hand up to my swelling cheek, I turned my head towards her.

"What was that for?"

"_That_ was for not telling me where you went! You left your phone here and you never leave without your phone! I thought you were kidnapped but the house door and windows were locked. And Charlie hasn't been around so I couldn't tell him. And.. you're practically naked! Have you been running around all this time like that?!"

Looking down ,sure enough, I was still in my bra and panties from when I left the other place.

"And tattoos on your _wrists_?!"

What was I suppose to say?

"It's a long story, one I'm pretty sure you won't believe."

"You'll tell me every damn detail!"

"Alice.. "

"No! Bella! Aside from dad, you're all I have!"

"And Jasper?" I questioned but smiled when she blushed.

"Jasper.. is just a close friend of ours, nothing more."

"I'm not going anywhere, Alice. I'll always be here as long as you need me."

"Please promise me that. I can't bear to lose you, like we lost mom." Her statement pierced my heart as the few memories of our mother entered my thoughts.

"I promise, I promise."

-

Alice had cried for half an hour and cried herself to sleep. She had clung to me like a leech, pinching me here and there, probably to make sure this was real. But shouldn't she be the one to pinch her own self?

I picked her up as slowly and carefully as I could and brought her over to my bed. Placing her nearest to the wall, I pulled the blankets up to her shoulders before going over to my dresser, pulling out fresh underwear

and pajama's. I headed to the bathroom and was finally glad to brush my teeth, ridding the disgusting taste from my mouth.

Thoughts of the other place began to dance around my head. Their food was the most delicious things I ever had. Their Sugar Sugar Foam drink boosted my energy level better than an right hour sleep. Everything there was beautiful. Their floor were clouds that seemed to change colour every day, along with the food. Hell, their cats had two tails.

Something must not be normal. The mirror for example. It brought me there in the first place. Would it be able to bring Alice there too? If so, it would be much easier to explain things..

"Wait a minute!" I snapped my fingers and gave myself a wide grin in the bathroom mirror. "When we wake up, I could show her the other place and she'll have to believe me! She'll be in shock but she wouldn't doubt me then." It was perfect.

I slowly crept back to my room and crawled into bed, pulling my extra blanket over myself. It was hard getting to sleep. No matter how much I closed my eyes, visions of Prince Edward, the handsome stranger and magic danced behind my lids. My wrists stayed tender and I brought them up in front of my eyes but failed to see them in the dark. Sighing, I tried laying on my side, facing away from Alice.

It was quiet in the house. Too quiet. It almost felt like a horror movie, the calm before the storm, before the monstrous bad guy pops out and begins to whack at you with a bloody rusted axe.

My eyes began to feel dry so I kept them closed, allowing the images to come. Somehow, they put me at ease, calming me into a state where I began to doze off. The last image I could remember was when I ran faster than I had ever ran before, the feeling of the wind whip against my face sent me an adrenaline rush, my heart racing quicker and quicker in my chest.

-

_Alice's scream filled the night sky. I turned away from the source of all my problems and into her direction. She had been stabbed from behind, straight through her shoulder blade. The blade itself was made to cause more than a hole. It had two hooks near the tip, so that when the user would pull back, they'd pull out more damage with them. _

_A Damned Magic User had been the one who struck Alice from behind. His eyes had been wide, his mouth open wide with laughter. The laugh of a maniac. I forced my limbs to move, pumping more and more magic into them. Move faster. Move quicker. But The Damned pressed into Alice from behind. She was breathing hard and sweating, her hands clutching to the spear in front of her chest._

_I yelled at her, begging her to move. But The Damned had slid his hand up to her throat, whispered something into her ear, causing Alice's eyes to widen before her crushed her wind pipe._

_Now, it was my turn to scream._

"Bella, wake up!" My eyes snapped open and I was face to face with Alice. I quickly scanned her for any injuries. There wasn't a scratch on her flawless skin. "Bella?" She called my name again.

"Alice." I breathed a sigh of relief, my shoulders slumping forward.

"Was it the dream again?"

"Yes, but it was different this time. Lately my dreams have been different."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," I whispered while sitting up, placing my hands in my lap. "This one was worse. Much worse."

"Okay, I won't bug you about it. But you do have some explaining to do about where you have been."

"Right." I confirmed, looking down at my wrists.

"Start out with those tattoos." She pointed while making herself comfortable on my bed. She was already dressed and ready for school.

"Actually, I should be getting ready for school. I don't want to fall any further behind."

"It's just one day."

"Then that'll be three days of homework. And some of those teachers show no mercy as it is." Alice pouted but shrugged.

"Fine, fine. But sometime today you'll have to tell me."

"I promised, remember?"

"Right." She smiled before leaving my room, giving me my privacy.

I had put on a overly large grey sweater and baggy jeans. It was something I'd wear at home or on the weekend but I didn't feel like dressing up. I felt like I had to hide myself, to show as little as possible. Alice had

raised an eyebrow at my attire but didn't say anything.

I skipped breakfast, which Alice did protest about and only forced me to eat a piece of toast with jam. Raspberry jam on toast was one of my favorite on-the-go breakfast snacks. The first bite I took shocked me. I froze, letting the taste settle it before spitting it back out onto the plate.

"Eugh! Did the jam expire?" I asked, looking over at Alice who looked surprised.

"No, we go it last week. And I just took a fresh loaf of bread out of the freezer yesterday."

"It tastes wrong." I complained, dropping the piece back onto my plate and pushed it away.

"Let me try," Alice frowned and reached for the piece of toast. She did a sniffing test before taking a bite. After a few seconds she swallowed and gave me a odd look. "It tastes just fine, like it usually does."

"It can't be! It tastes as if someone mashed it in soot, then dumped it down the sewer and spread vomit over as a topping instead of jam!" I huffed, clearly pissed that my taste buds are giving me mixed signals. Alice seemed just as shocked.

"Uhm, maybe we should go to school." She whispered, stood up and headed over to the porch, picking her bag up along the along. Sighing, I decided to do the same.

On the bus ride to school, I began to think of the other world again. It plagues my thoughts. What bugged me more at the moment was breakfast. Why did it taste so bad? Would everything taste the same as the

toast did? If so, I'm going to have to plug my nose while eating. Did it taste bad because of the other world? The food there had been the best I ever had. After having a taste of heaven, did it alter my taste buds so that if I ate anything else that was from their world, it would taste like complete crap?

"Ugh, dammit!" I hissed, punching the plastic seat in front of me.

Which.. resulted to the guy sitting in front of us to shoot out of his chair like a rocket and onto the bus floor. People asked if he was okay while the teens straight out laughed. He got up, refusing everybody's help and whipped around, looking straight at Alice and myself. But I had the most guilty looking face on so he kept his killer look on me. His eyes wondered down to his seat and bulged. Blinking, I looked down at his seat and saw the dent I created.

Oh shit.

-

A/N: Before anyone screams at me for not making a longer chapter - this is all I've got. Tonight, I suddenly had the inspiration to write and this is how far I got before it burnt out. And I thought "Hum, should I stop here and wait for another decade to pass before I get the urge to write again or post it now to let everyone know I'm still working on it?"

I just looked it over and felt bad that it's so short. I feel like I gotta give more but I'm emotionally and phsyically tired. There's a bit much going on right now. Examples - My dad telling me something that happened to me when I was young, yet I have no memories of it. Working a lot, 8 hour shifts, 6 hour sleeps and back to work. Been planning to go to San Jose and possibly Miami in the end of May - June but having troubles with my over-protective mom. Hell, my dads all for helping me.

Okay, Im going to stop boring everyone who reads my authors note. Once again, sorry for the shortness, but at least I got something done.

BottledCoke


	5. Chapter 5

One Winged Angel

Jukebox: Boombox - The Lonely Island

Chapter 5 - Exhilarate.

Bella's P.o.V

After punching a dent into the bus chair, the bus driver immediately pulled over, spewing colour words. Once he stopped though, the doors automatically opened, which I took advantage of by grabbing Alice's hand and got the hell out of there. The over weight driver yelled, telling us to stop, telling people to stop us but everyone was too shocked by the damage I had done.

Adrenaline pumped through me, which was a mistake. I zipped past people, barely dodging them. The familiar feeling of having the wind whip at my face excited me, urging me to move faster but I halted to a stop when Alice screamed at me.

"Bella! What was THAT?! What is THIS?!" Alice took her hand out of mine so she could place it on her knee while she caught her breath.

_'Why is magic working here? How is it possible? Unless.. there's magic users here too but are hiding their powers?'_

"How could you have created a dent like that in a thick plastic chair?"

"The bus is pretty old, the chair was probably weak."

"Bullshit." I whipped my head around to give her a hard stare but she stared back equally as hard.

"Alice.. "

"No! You can also run faster than usual all of a sudden? Are you on some sort of drug?" I bit my lip and her eyes widened. "You are, aren't you? You took something to make you like.. this!" She waved her hands animatedly before grabbing onto her hair and tugged sharply.

"I'm not on any drugs, Alice! I promised I would explain to you what happened to me. But right now isn't the time or place." I gestured with my hands, showing her the people that stopped and stared. After glancing around, she sighed and began to walk in the direction of our school.

"Lunch time, in the library?"

"Sure." I nodded and took five quick steps to catch up to her. She gave me a bewildered look but shook her head instead of voicing her thoughts.

The ten minute walk to school was silent. And uncomfortable. Alice would throw suspicious glances at me, look ahead for a moment before glancing back. It was driving me nuts not knowing what she was thinking, since she practically made it a rule to let me know what she's thinking at all times but now, it seemed she broke that rule. Maybe 'cause I broke it first. I also agreed a long time ago that I would tell her whatever is on my mind but after coming back, I'm clammed up.

I couldn't blame her though. One random day your sibling disappears for three days and comes back half naked with tattoos. Your one and only sibling, the one you're dependent on, look to for advice, comfort, security, is not there to greet you when you come home from school. I could imagine how much Alice cried, constantly checking around the house, waiting by the door, hoping I'd come home.

All too soon I could see our school, a plain old red brick building with a sign saying "St. Volturi High School", placed right above the double glass doors. Students were already heading inside the school, meaning the bell had already rang. The first or the warning bell, we didn't know, so we ran the rest of the way just in case.

When we got through the doors, I lost my concentration and continued to jog ahead until Alice grabbed hold of my arm, pulling me down a different hall.

"Where are you going? We have Gym in the morning."

"Gym.. oh, right." She gave me a skeptical look but continued to pull on my arm.

When we entered, our classmates were already dressed and standing in rows of three. Oh, was there too.

"And why are both Swans late? I can expect it from Bella, but not you, Alice." Her icy blue eyes locked onto our forms, ready to attack.

"Sorry, Mrs. Newton. The bus broke down so we had to walk the rest of the way," I offered, hoping she would left us off the hook. Instead, she pinned her stare on me.

"Isabella Swan," I knew better than to correct her. The first time I did, I got after school detention, cleaning the girls _and_ boys toilets. Gross. "Your sister said you were sick and couldn't come to school. Feeling

better?" She smiled softly and I blinked.

"Y-yes, I feel a lot better. Thanks."

"That's good. And you must have felt so sick that you couldn't even call into work for three days to tell me personally?" Her soft, fake smile turned into a scowl and I shrunk back.

"Uhm, yeah. I slept most of the time, so.. so --"

"So now you can get changed, come out here and do double of what everyone else is doing." A few people gasped. Heck, even Jessica looked surprised. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Mrs. Newton."

"Good. By the way, you're fired."

Once I was in the the girls dressing room, I swung my fist towards the tiled wall but stopped before I could hit it, memories from this morning came to mind, reminding me of the outcome. It wouldn't be a pretty site. I'd smash the tiles. Everyone would hear then come in to see what happened. I'd get into more shit, then get reported to the principal and he'll see the damage, say it's unbelievable then send me out to scientist so they could poke and prick at me to find out exactly how I had punched a hole in a tile wall.

At least Alice didn't see my action, or she probably would have forced out answers now instead of later.

I made sure to change my clothes at a quick place, which wasn't a problem with my super human powers or whatever they were called. I just had to be extra delicate as not to rip them. Now that would be pushing my luck with Mrs. Newton. I wouldn't doubt that if it had happened, she'd make me do my punishment in my underwear.

_Bzzz_. _Bzzz_.

Blinking, I looked down at my cellphone. The screen lit up before fading. I picked it up and looked at the name.

Mike.

Flipping open the small device, I read his text message.

_Sry abt mom. she and dad had a nasty fight this morning and arent on speaking terms. i will try 2 get ur job back_

I groaned and tapped the pad lightly for my reply.

_It's fine mike. i was going to ask for a break anyways, if i couldn't get 1 i would have quit. just don't worry about it._

After hitting send, I turned off my cell phone and placed it inside my locked. Alice was waiting for me by the door, rocking back and forth on her feet. I took a few strides to get to her and swiftly opened the door, allowing Alice to go first. We each went behind the closes line to the door, fidgeting under the stare of Mrs. Newton.

"We'll start off with five laps around the gym, ten push ups, twenty sit ups and thirty jumping jacks. So, Bella, ten laps around the gym, twenty push ups, forty sit ups and sixty jumping jacks." This time, no one hid their gasps so I didn't either.

The numbers were so outrageous that I would just march right out and straight to the principal to tell him about all this. But he's just a senile old man and he's a sucker for winners. Which is what Mrs. Newton makes of the soccer, basket ball, tennis and volley ball teams. She pushes them past their limits and brings out the best in them to make sure we bring gold back in tournaments. No one with half a brain would go against her.

But I now had something she'll probably want. I had power and energy oozing from my pores, needing, _wanting_ to be used up. So that's what I'll do to beat her at her own game.

"I want this all completed in the next half hour. No double time for that, Ms. Swan." Mrs. Newton gave me a bitter smile before marching off to the bench, sat down, pressed "play" on the CD machine and blew her whistle.

Some fast techno, trance like music began to play and everyone started jogging around the gym. I kept my easy pace with Alice, who looked at me worriedly. I looked backed and winked at her. She caught on quickly and shook her head, sighing. And it wasn't long before I felt a familiar presence at my other side.

"Oh my GOD, Bella! I'm so sorry! If I knew you weren't sick any more, I would have told you to stay home until the coast was clear." Mike moaned while scratching his neck nervously.

"It's fine, Mike. I should have called your mom to let her know I wouldn't be coming in for a few days."

"I know but it's just so unfair!"

"He's right, you know?" It was Jessica who spoke this time as she came up on Mikes other side. She frowned over at me and had a guilty look on her face. She knew damn well that was mainly rude to me because she would tell the older woman that I slack in my studies, that I distract Mike from _his_ studies and what not. My grades are average, thank you very much, bitch face.

"Maybe, but a lesson if gonna be learned by the end of this."

"Don't talk like that, Bella.. "Mike placed a hand onto my shoulder and gave it a tight squeeze. Jessica now saw how far her her sympathy would last and a snarky smile crept onto her face.

"Bella, should you really be taking your time? I mean, you've got to do double what we got, so maybe going at this slow paste isn't the best idea."

"You're right," I sighed, dramatically, which Alice giggled to. "See you guys in half an hour."

I jogged a little ahead of my group, seemingly trying my best but in truth, it was a breeze. I picked my pace up, passing people who started out before us. I went a little faster and a little faster, trying not to go to fast to

scare people but it wasn't working. Everyone stared, pointed and gossiped. Mrs. Newton had jumped off the benched and trained her eyes on my, pen against clipboard, scribbling.

I had slowed down near the end of my run, pretending that I'm tired. I wasn't even breaking a sweat. The rest of the students had started on their push ups while two more laps waited for me. It was a little embarrassing, being the only one running around the gym while others did their push ups while watching. But soon enough I was on the ground, pushing for twenty push ups.

Before today, doing push ups would seem impossible, I couldn't lift myself off the floor. But now it didn't even seem like such a big deal.

Everything else had passed in a blur. Running laps. Push ups, sit ups and jumping jacks. By the end of it all, I had finished first.

"Bella!" Mrs. Newton stormed towards me while I pretended to be gasping for air.

"Y-yes, Mrs. Newton?"

"Have you ever considered joining the track team? Or any sport, for that matter?"

"Sports never really interested me, ma'am."

"Well, think about it. The soccer tournament is coming up in three months. Practice starts next week. Interested?"

"Uhm, I'll think about it."

"Make sure that you do. We could use you on a couple of our sports team."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Alright, everyone gather around! We're going to play --"

Lunch came by quicker than I had hoped. But it had to happen sooner or later.

I was sitting at a empty table, far away from where people normally sit. Alice was running ten minutes late and I had considered bolting, using the excuse "Yeah, you weren't there, I was hungry so I went and got lunch" but I knew she would end up calling me anyways. So I waited. And waited.

Twenty more minutes rolled by until she finally showed up, panting.

"Did you run here?"

"Yes, sorry! The teacher kept me behind because I 'failed' my last test."

"Failed?"

"Yes. It seems like a sixty-five percent is a failing grade."

"It's cutting close. What happened?"

"Well, I didn't really study much because _somebody_ went missing for awhile."

"Sorry," I mumbled, casting my gaze downwards.

"Enough about that. Now. Tell me every single detail."

And so I did.

A/N: Oh snap, a cliff hanger! I wanted to post this earlier but I fell asleep while typing the chat between Bella and Jessica.

And don't you dare complain that it's short! Even if it's short, it took me morethan 3 hours to type it out.

BottledCoke


	6. Chapter 6

One Winged Angel

Jukebox: Wavin Flag - Various Artists

Chapter 6 - Unstable.

Bella's P.o.V

"Good GOD, Bella! Which drugs did you exactly take!" Alice could no longer hold in her laughter. Her hands clutched her sides as she howled. I kept trying to shush her, seeing was we're in a library, but mostly because I was embarrassed.

"You know, I _had_ a feeling you wouldn't believe me."

"Well what did you expect me to say to that? "Oh, that's so cool, Bella! Show me your tricks, baby!" " She managed to breathe out before covering her mouth with her hand, trying to contain the laughter.

"Har, har, har." I mocked and glared.

"Wait, wait, I got to text Jasper." She whipped out her cellphone and began texting at high speed.

"Man, I don't know how you can text so fast. Do you practice an hour a day or something?"

"It's just a natural skill." she murmured, snorted and began giggling up a storm.

"Wait.. you're not telling Jasper about.. "

"Uh-huh."

"Gimmie that!" I went to dive at her but she moved out of the way.

"Too late, I already hit the send button. I also told him where we are so hopefully he'll come here and get a giggle out of this."

"Ugh, Aliiiice!" I couldn't help but whine. Jasper was like the over-protective brother I never wanted.

Not even five minutes later, Jasper was in front of us, panting, sweat pouring down his face. It took him a few more minutes to compose himself.

"Bella, you did drugs?"

"No!"

"But Alice said.. "

"Alice likes to exaggerate."

"And the tattoos?"

".. " She didn't tell me she told him about that.

Reluctantly I rolled up my sleeves to reveal the fat ring tattoos. Jasper instantly frowned and gave me a disapproving look. He raised his hand and rubbed his thumb over my right wrist, hard.

"Ow!" I pulled back and clutched my wrist, lightly.

"Sorry!" He squeaked, stepping back as well. "Just making sure it wasn't fake."

"Why would this be fake?"

"To play a trick on me, to see my reaction?"

"That's true. But I assure you, these are real." A sigh escaped through my lips and I sat down onto a plastic blue chair, slouching.

"I don't really.. approve of tattoos. Especially something as boring as yours. Any reason why you got those specifically."

"I just thought it would look cool. Kind of like.. thick handcuffs.. being chained up.. yeah." I hope this didn't make me sound like I was into kink or anything. I was basically chained, just not visibly.

"Bella, Bella, "Jasper couldn't help but sigh, running a hand down his face. "I never knew you would be the one to do this. I kind of expected it from Alice but you?"

"Hey, now," Alice warned, putting her hands on her hips. "What do you mean you expect something like that from me?"

"Well, knowing you, you'd do something crazy, in the moment, a split decision." He put his best smile on, 'cause Alice to blush.

"You two are so cute." Now they both blushed, clearly embarrassed. Serves them right.

"What about you, Bella? Is there anyone you fancy?" Alice tried changing the conversation, keeping her gaze off the apple of her eye.

"No, not really. And never would I consider _Mike_ so don't be asking, Alice." She huffed but continued to prob.

Soon, my worries were forgotten as we talked about other things, my life seemingly to be normal once again. I kicked down the nagging spot in the back of my head whenever it made itself noticeable. I didn't want to notice it, it doesn't need me to. It just wanted to haunt my mind, to bring me to a complete mindfuck of what's going on with my life. I didn't need it. Now, or ever.

Back in class, I wondered why the minutes would tick by so slowly, it was almost pure torture. I tried to pay attention but I drowned out the teachers yabbering and decided to doodle in my notebook instead. I picked out a clear page and began drawing anything that came to mind.

First I drew a smiley face. It looked too happy for my liking but I left it be and drew a stick body to go with it. Next I drew a cat. Well, tried to. My artistic skills aren't really the best around. But I try to do my best. Before I knew it, the bell had rang and I drew three pages worth of useless doodles, meaning absolutely nothing to me. I only wish it was like that but it wasn't. The smiley face meant that I was pretending to have no problems in life, happy as can be. The cat was a reminder of the two tailed cats. Every other doodle all related to the foreign world I was in.

The last doodle was of the mirror. And inside the mirror, I drew a head-shot of the prince. And it sucked.

I quickly shut my books, shoved them in my bag and headed out of the classroom door. I needed to leave. I needed to go home, to get out. I felt as if I couldn't breathe right. I walked sluggishly past other students,

sometimes banging shoulders. Someone grabbed my shoulder and spun me around to face them.

"Bella!"

"Alice.. "

"Are you feeling alright? You've been walking around the halls like a drunk, someone went to go get the nurse."

"No! I don't need to see a nurse!" They'd just ask if I have any a problems. I'll tell them I have a huge ass problem, they'll ask what it is, I'll tell and they will dub me as a lunatic and lock me up. Or beg me to seek help and I was not going there.

"But, Bella, you're not feeling well, I think you should go."

"I just want to go home, please."

".. Fine. But I'm going with you."

"There's one more period left, though.. "

"Too bad, I'm not letting you out of my sight, not again."

I didn't want to argue any further, so I allowed her to come with me. She held onto my arm the whole way. We didn't take the bus either, since she believed I just needed to get some fresh air to cool my head. But it didn't work, it only made me feel worse. The air didn't seem, smell or feel as pure. It felt dirty, unchanged. When I told Alice this, she made us walk faster.

Half an hour later, I was stumbling up the stairs with Alice trying to help me get up. I tried to push away her stubborn hands but she refused to give up. I let her do what she wants, I always have. She helped me changed into my pajamas, not the least bit embarrassed at my underwear.

When finished, I just stood there in the middle of my bedroom, staring at the mirror.

"Look, why don't you lay down and get come rest while I go downstairs and put on some soup for you, okay?"

".. "

She looked a little afraid to leave me alone but eventually she left, going down the hall and down the stairs. I waited until I couldn't hear her foot steps anymore, which was kind of impossible because of my hyped hearing. But the pressure was too much, I couldn't hold it anymore.

I began to cry. It wasn't a single tear glistening down my cheek, it was a full out bawl session. My knees gave out beneath me, causing a "thump" noise when my bottom hit the ground. My sensitive hearing picked up Alice's wavering steps downstairs. She had put down whatever she was holding and began to run up the stairs and back into my room.

"Oh, Bella. I leave you for a moment and you turn into a mess." She wasn't scolding me. She sounded more hurt. Was she sad that I was like this?

She bent down and picked me up bridal style and brought me over to my bed. I wrapped my arms around her neck while continuing to cry. The hiccups came quick but it didn't stop me. She pulled the covers up to my shoulders and laid down beside me. She began to sign a song our dad us to sing to us. I knew she was trying to calm me down but it only made me worse.

I turned into my pillow and screamed as loud as I could. I did this five times before sobbing into the now wet fabric. I could tell Alice was scared. She jerked back at my first scream, then hugged me tightly, 'shh'ing me. She trembled while she did. I hope she wasn't afraid of me, I didn't want her to fear me.

Why was I such an emotional mess?

With Jasper..

Jasper sat in his computer class and brought up Google. He tapped his fingers against the desk for awhile before taking out his cellphone, bringing up the text message screen to Alice.

"Guess I better text her to ask exactly what kind of drugs Bella took. Woman was tripping."

A/N: Woo, thought I'd give Jasper extra small on-script time!

Short, again. But, hey, it makes me get the mout faster instead of thinking what to write next! Didn't go anywhere much in this chapter, but it's getting there!

And if I messed up somewhre, ignore it. I only got 3 hours of sleep and inspiration hit me like a sack of glue. Enjoy it.

Bottledcoke


	7. Chapter 7

One Winged Angel

Jukebox: Bye Bye Beautiful - Nightwish

Chapter 7 - Summon.

Bella's P.o.V

When I woke up, all I could think of was "What the hell had happened yesterday that could actually make me soak my entire bed?". What made it worse was that I was also soaked. I cringed at the sound of my hands squishing into the mattress.

"This is so gross, " I couldn't help but moan while getting off, trying to touch the bed as little as possible.

"No kidding." Alice snorted.

"Whoa!" I stumbled back, catching myself in time before falling onto the soaked mattress.

"Sorry." She smiled and pointed towards the bed. "You cried like a little baby yesterday afternoon, I've never seen you like this before."

"You mean.. I cried so much I made my whole bed wet?"

"Yep. You clung to me, too. It worries me though, about the drugs, I mean."

"Alice.. don't start on that again." I made her turn around while I got out of my wet pajamas and into clean underwear, a cotton white t-shirt and black jeans.

"What else could have explained this? It's like you're going into withdrawal or something."

"Please, I don't need this so early in the morning."

"You're going to have to talk about it sometime, you know."

"Alice, just.. !" That's it.

My eyes flew to the mirror, which was sitting innocently in the corner of my room. But it was no where near innocent. It was almost like the devil, deceiving thing. I glared, calculating it for a moment before Alice's voice brought me out of my thoughts.

"Don't look at the mirror like that, it did nothing wrong. Or are you still saying that it's some passage way to another world?" She walked over and stood in front of it, hands on hips. "It was mothers mirror, too. Just think about what she would say if she heard you spouting this nonsense."

"She would laugh and tell me she wishes she had such an imagination." I sighed and walked over beside Alice.

"And you do. Or you were tripping shit when you were on drugs."

"You know what, let's just see who's the know who's tripping shit." And with that, I placed my hand on her back and gave a shove.

Alice gasped as she headed for the mirror, arms crossing in front of her face.

She was going..

She was going..

And she wasn't gone like I had expected her to.

Instead, Alice crashed into the mirror, causing both to fall to the ground.

"Ouch! Dammit, Bella, what the hell?" She hissed and rolled onto her back.

"Why didn't it work.. " I mused, offering to help Alice up but she swatted my hand away, getting up on her own.

"Maybe it didn't work 'cause you're losing it! I'm sorry, Bella, but I believe you really are on drugs. When Charlie gets back, we're all going to sit down and have a long talk." She spun on her heel and left the room, but

not before yelling "Schools in twenty!".

I knew she was mad at me, I saw her wrist bleeding.. blood..

"Oh, no!" I whipped my head towards the mirror, eyes widening. "No, no, no!"

It was shattered into a million and one pieces, scattered around the floor. I bent down, trying to pick up a bunch at a time but ended up cutting myself a couple times. I winced with every handful, placing them back into the mirror. I knew it would probably take me months to put it all together, maybe even a year or two. But I knew that the other world had not been a dream or hallucination.

"Bella, what are you doing?" Alice squeaked at me. She ran over and slapped my hands, making me drop the pieces back onto the floor. "You don't need to use your hands! Just get the dust pan downstairs, sweep it up and throw it into the garbage, no need to place it back onto the mirror, unless.. you're planning on putting it back together?"

"Yes," I gave her a firm nod and reached down to start picking up the sharp glass again but she grabbed a hold of my wrists, dragging me out of my room.

"No! Go wash your hands, I'll be over there in a bit to disinfect, put on some ointment and wrap them in bandages. You're not to go into your room again until after school so I'll get your bag and cellphone.

"Well.. "I gave her a frown before heading towards the bathroom. "Alright, then, but if I found out you've touched the broken glass, I'll be crying a river on your bed."

We had to leave home half an hour earlier than usual, since we are probably banned from taking the bus again. Alice gave my arms a twice look over, running her fingers over them, probably looking for holes. As expected, she didn't find any. Now she's probably going to assume it's pills.

When we arrived at school, she had to open the doors and my locker for me, seeing as how I'm a handicap at the moment. People gave us weird looks but we were use to ignoring them.

In gym class I hadn't bothered changing into my clothes and decided to sit on the bench, knowing that whatever we were doing today, it would involve using our hands.

Mrs. Newton came barging through the doors, clipboard in hand, a smile on her face but it fell when after she scanned the students.

"Where is Miss Bella Swan?"

"Here," I coughed and raised my hand. She whipped around and measured me.

"Why aren't you in your gym clothes?"

"Uhm.. "I lifted up my hands to show her why.

"Tripped on the sidewalk and scraped your palms, did you?" Her tone was sarcastic but her eyes shone with a sadistic glint.

"Actually I, stupidly, tried picking up broken glass."

"Huh." She turned back to the other students and started calling out names, ignoring me for the rest of the class.

I must say, it's always interesting watching people from the bench. You could see the mistakes they made and make a mental note to never do that too. Today Mrs. Newton had decided to take out the badminton rackets, putting everyone into teams of two and scattered them all around the gym to practice. And just my luck, Mike and Jessica were playing right in front of me.

"It's such a shame that you can't participate today, Bella." Jessica sent me a sweet smile but I knew better. It was anything but sweet.

"It is. I was kind of hoping to be your partner, even though I know you aren't exactly the greatest with your hands." Mike sounded so sincere, it made me feel much worse.

"Gee, thanks, Mike." He gave me a big grin and continued on passing the birdy between Jess and himself.

For some reason, I felt a little dead today. Like my energy was slowly being drained from me. I turned to my side and glanced to the wall beside me.

Well.. it couldn't hurt to try, I could make up some excuse.

I pulled my right hand back, curled it into a fist and sent it flying into the wall.

There was a loud crack that echoed throughout the gym, making everyone stop their activities and turn towards me. Even Mrs. Newton stepped out of her office to see what all the commotion was about.

I pulled my fist back from the wall to inspect the damage. Strange thing was, there wasn't any.

Glancing to my hand, I notice the bandages began to feel heavy as it soaked up my blood. The shock and numbing around my skull had worn off too soon and I was now recognizing the feeling as excruciating pain.

I can't remember screaming so loud before in my life. I had curled into a fetal position, holding my arm, trying to nurse my hand. Mrs. Newton was barking out orders and I soon felt arms go under my legs and around my shoulders, picking me up bridal style.

The person accidentally brushed against my hand, causing another loud scream to rip from my throat. I could hear other people shouting and I could hear Alice screaming. I wanted to tell her to make the pain stop, to take me to Edward so he could heal me, anything to make it stop.

Black fuzzy dots danced mercifully around my vision and I welcomed the darkness with bandaged hands.

When I came to, I first noticed soothing music being played. Next was the light breeze blowing in through the winds, waving around the white curtains. Taking a quick glance around, I realised I was in the school infirmary. The thick white curtains were drawn all around, blocking anyone from seeing me.

"Itchy." My voice was raspy but I ignored it and looked down. I was wearing one of those embarrassing hospital gowns, meaning the school nurse must have undressed me. I don't see the reason why, unless I got blood on my clothes and they were being washed.

"Nurse," I called out and moments later, a middle aged woman opened the curtains, a smile on her face.

"Good to see you up, Bella."

"Water?" I asked and she nodded, leaving for a minute and returned with a cup of water.

When she handed it to me, I swallowed it greedily.

"Now, Bella, I would like to talk to you about what happened in gym class."

"What time is it?"

"A little after one. Please don't change the subject."

"Sorry."

"Now, can you explain why you had to sudden urge to hit the wall with all your might?"

"I, uhm.. wanted to.. test out my strength.. "

"Uh-huh. And your sister, Alice, told me that this morning you had multiple cuts on your hands from picking up broken glass this morning."

"That's correct."

"I simply can't piece this together. I know your father isn't him a lot, so could this perhaps be a way of seeking attention?"

"What? No."

"Are you feeling depressed, suicidal, lonely?"

"No!"

"Are you on drugs?"

"NO!" I didn't mean to raise her voice at her, she was just doing her job, but it annoyed me.

"You seem to have some pent up anger. Are you stressed at all?"

"Maybe!"

"Good, that's a start. I'll be back in about fifteen minutes, I'm going to go to your classrooms and tell your teachers to excuse you for the rest of the afternoon so we can talk." She got up and left. I waited until I heard

the infirmary door open and close before throwing my head back repeatedly onto the pillow.

"She thinks there's something wrong with me. There could be but how could I explain to her if Alice didn't believe me."

I raised my hands to look at them. My right hand was bandaged even more. She even had an IV put into arm. I ran my eyes up along my arm and noticed for the first time in days, my tattoo. Bringing up my other arm, I placed the two black rings close together while trying to remember what Edward had said about them.

_"I merely got you branded so I can track where you are at all times. And it's pretty useful too. If you ever needed me, place your wrists together and I'll appear. "_

That bastard.

But wait,, if he were to appear here, maybe he can fix the mirror and I can prove to Alice that I'm not a druggie!

I clasped my hands together, intertwining my fingers and bringing my wrists snug against each other so that the black rings lined up perfectly. They began to feel warm and it gave me the courage to go on.

But nothing was happening. All they were doing was staying warm.

"Damn you, Edward Cullen!" I yelled out, frustrated.

And then I was blinded by a bright white light.

I clenched my eyes shut, unable to keep them open. There was ruffling noises coming from the curtains surrounding me, wind blowing into my face. After a couple minutes it stopped and I dared to open my eyes, fearing the sight that would be in front of me.

There he was, basking in all his glory, practically sparkling.

Edward Cullen stood at the foot of the bed, wearing a loose white tunic shirt and white silk pants to match. There was bells tied to the bottom of his pants, jingling whenever he moved and multicoloured scarfs wrapped around his neck. He was looking around the place, curiously, cautiously before his gaze landed on me. His tense shoulders relaxed and he placed a hand on a nonexistent hip.

"My, oh my. It has been awhile since I last saw you, Bella."

".. " I was speechless.

"Has my beauty stopped your brain from functioning?"

"Oh, you're so full of it!" I growled and pulled down the white blanket, throwing my legs over to the side.

"I was seriously beginning to think I would never see you again."

"Yeah, well, I was hoping I could have seen you this morning."

"Oh?" He sat down beside me on the bed, his interest peaked.

"Yeah, but I'm sort of over it. Right now, I just wanna leave."

"Back to Cullen Kingdom?" He sounded hopeful, his eyes shining brightly.

"Uhm, yeah, I was thinking of going back."

"Then I'll gladly take you to the mirror!"

"But you see, it's kind of broken." His response was a blank stare, which unnerved me a little.

"Say something!" I hissed and stood up. "You can fix it, right?"

"I can, but I'm just trying to process how stupid one can be to break something so magical."

"It was an accident, okay?" I started to head towards the door but felt a tug in my arm. Turning back, I noticed that the IV was still in my arm. "Ew, how am I going to do this?"

"What's that?" Edward asked curiously, eyeing the needle in my arm, poking it lightly.

"It's just something that keeps my hydrated while I slept. I had an accident toward so it was needed.

"An accident?" I lifted my hands to show him. Noticing for the first time, his eyes widened and bent low to examine them. "How?" It was barely a whisper but I heard him.

"Well I had these powers when I came back home. Super human strength and speed. Today, I was picking up the broken glass from the mirror and ended up cutting myself, a lot. This morning, I decided to punch a

wall, just to test it out 'cause it's hard to believe anything these days. And instead of causing the wall to crack, I must has broken my hand."

"Oh," He frowned and reached out to stroke my hands with his fingers.

"Yeah. I must have screamed so loud, the whole school probably heard me." A blush spread across my cheeks.

"Did you cry during the time you came back?" I blinked at his question and nodded.

"Yeah, yesterday, actually. I cried so much, I made my soaked my mattress."

"When you had our food, it gave you a good feeling of being full, correct?"

"Yeah."

"Were you able to eat anything here after that?"

"No.. actually, everything tasted pretty bland and gross. Even my favorite foods."

"And that drink, Foam Foam Sugar Blast, gave you the powers."

"So, my powers only came from a _foam drink_? I'm just a normal teen?" I was hopeful, wanting to have much of a normal life as possible.

"No, you do have powers within yourself, it's just laying dormant right now. They appear when you really need them but you gotta train to bring them out so you can use them at your every whim."

"Oh.. "

"Mhmm. And crying usually drains you out, so you lost a lot of magical energy from that drink."

"That makes sense." I murmured.

"Now, stay still."

Edward carefully placed his hands under mine, bringing them up to his face. His lips ran lightly and smoothly across my knuckles. I couldn't help but blush at the display. It almost seemed private, making me want to look away but I couldn't. Listening really carefully now, I could hear him whispering words I've never heard of, his lips barely moving. A light luminescent glow surrounded my hands before disappearing quickly.

He pulled back to examine his work. Then he raised his hand and slapped it against my right hand.

"Hey! What do you think you're.. " Shocked, I looked down at my hands, flexing my fingers. They didn't hurt anymore. In fact, they felt great. "It feels all better."

"It was a simple healing spell. And I had to give some affection to you, or else your magic would have objected me."

"What?"

"Your magic protects you when it feels threatened. I had to give it some sign of affection to allow me to mend your bones together."

"Oh." That was a tad scary. Not knowing what was laying beneath the surface of your own body.

"Now if you'll just lead the way to your village home, I'll gladly fix the mirror for you."

"Alright, but one more thing."

"And that is?" I pointed to the IV in my arm.

"I'm too much of a- Ah!"

Edward grabbed it between his thumb and index finger, easily pulling it out. It didn't hurt, it just felt weird and looked so gross. He smirked at my reaction and grabbed my hand, heading towards the door.

_Tap. Tap. Tap._

Looking down, I noticed that he wasn't wearing any shoes.

"Where are your slippers? Or shoes."

"I was in the middle of getting ready to bathe when you summoned me."

"I think it's lucky that I didn't wait a minute later to _summon_ you then," I added dryly and pointed to the nurses outdoor shoes. "Try those on."

"But they're so tiny."

"So? Use magic to make them fit."

"I refuse. They seem so.. girly."

"Please don't be like this right now." He remained stubborn, turning his head away from the pair. "Fine, if you don't care about stepping on rocks, sharp objects or crap, we're good to go."

I opened the door and peaked out into the hall. It was empty. Of course it was, everyone was in class. I motioned for Edward to follow and he grabbed hold of my hand wit ha smile. I gave him a questioning weary

look.

"So we don't lose each other."

"Yeah, right."

We walked down the deserted hall, hand in hand. I started to feel self conscious, mainly because I'm afraid someone will see us holding hands and that I was still wearing the gown. With each step, bells would jingle but it was a pleasant jingle, making me wonder if it was natural or if Edward tweaked them with magic.

After ten minutes of walking in silence, we were in the last hallway, the double doors at the end beckoning out to me. I picked up my pace, wanting to get out sooner. But I wasn't quick enough. The nurse had just rounded the corner with a few medication bottles in her arms and sheets of papers in the others. Once she recognized me yet not Edward, who was now beside me, her face contorted into one of alarm.

"Bella, what are you doing out of bed? Who is that with you? I've never seen him here before."

"Don't worry, I'm feeling better." To prove me right, I raised my hands, with troubles of shaking Edward's hand away, and flexed my fingers. I then took my right hand and punched the wall, but not with as much force as I had put in like this morning. The nurse gasped, dropping a few bottles to cover her mouth with her hand.

"That's because I gave you some pain killer pills. You might have broken a few more bones after that, Bella. Please, come back to the infirmary with me." She reached out to grab my arm but Edwards arm wrapped around my shoulder, pulling me onto his person.

"Sorry, ma'am, but she's coming with me." The nurse seemed to be in shock but her face reddened in anger.

"I don't know who you are, but you must be a strange man to be wearing weird clothes and taking one of our female students without permission."

"I don't need permission from those who are below me."

That left her and I speechless.

"Don't be a jerk!"

"Bella, you know this man?"

"Yes and no."

"Come with me young man, I'm going to get the school security." But Edward didn't budge. Instead, he continued walking towards the doors, keeping my in front of him.

"Bella, fight against him! Try and hold him off!" I bit my lip, not knowing how to respond.

When the nurse began screaming for help, Edward picked me up bridal style and began to run. Once we got past the doors, he looked around to see if anyone was looking. Thankfully, not much people were around. I shifted a little in his arms, trying to get comfortable. It was a tad awkward.

"If I run at my normal speed, people will surely know somethings up so I'm going to run extra slow, okay?"

"Uhm, alright?"

And he began to run. But it was more like quick run, not a jog, not even extra slow. This was normal to us. _'But he's some magical prince who's use to running fast.' _I had to remind myself. People did stare at us though, because Edward was wearing weird clothes, with no shoes, while carrying me at a fast pace. I didn't want to see anymore expressions so I turned into a broad shoulder and closed my eyes.

"Don't go hiding, Bella. I need you to tell me where you live."

"Oh," I sighed, looking back out at the people we passed by.

I gave him directions to short-cuts, wanting to avoid the public as much as possible. When we were out of the public eye, Edward picked up his pace until we reached an area with seeing eyes. While passing a group of people, I wanted to flip them off and ask what the heck their problem was. But apparently it was Edward and I. They stared shamelessly at us and didn't give a hoot if we knew or not. Edward seemed used to the attention so paid no mind to it.

We were now walking through the front door of the house. I was ready to pull my keys out of my pocket but realised I had none then remembered I left them in my pack sack which was back at the school. But Edward merely reached for the door knob, gave it a little shake wit hared glow and it opened.

He placed me on my feet before shutting the door behind us, locking it normally.

"Such a small place you live in. Usually magic users make a great living."

"Yet we live in two different worlds."

"Magic users are all over, in different worlds, places, etcetera."

That means my assumption from yesterday was true.

"Does that mean here too?"

"Yes, I felt a lot of magic energy all around me."

"Strange."

"It actually feels nice."

"I bet it does. My bed room is upstairs."

"Hmm," He hummed and began to follow me but stopped when he saw some old object Charlie had dug up a couple years ago.

"Do you like it?" It didn't seem very special, heck, it didn't even look pretty but it interested Edward.

"It's.. fascinating. I've only read about it in books."

"I know. My dad has large book on artifacts like this. He spends most of his time digging them up. He then brings them here and places them all around the house."

"Interesting. What is your dads name?"

"Char-.. Alice!"

"Alice? That's a girly name for a man." He mused but I pointed out through the window, where Alice was running up the driveway.

"My sister! She must have heard happened at school. How the hell did she get her so quickly?" I placed a finger on my chin but was grabbed by the wrist and dragged up the stairs.

"Which room is yours?"

"The door beside the one near the end. Why are we rushing?"

"Because the mirror is the Phaze Portal! We try to keep it a secret from letting it fall into the wrong hands!"

He barged into my room and got right to business. He kneeled to the floor and began working on the mirror, his hand hovering over the glass, waving frantically once in while to move the pieces. I watched in amazement as little by little, the pieces were put together.

"Bella! Bella, where are you?" Alice screamed. I was torn between calling out to her or keeping quiet. She sounded like she was going to lose me again, like before when I suddenly disappeared for two to three days.

"Don't respond, you don't know who could be listening." He whispered, nearly completing the mirror.

"But she's my sister! I don't want her worrying again like that time."

"Please, Bella." He pleaded, finishing the mirror before turning to me. "One screw up and both of our worlds could be doomed."

"Wha.. "

"I'll go first but make sure you follow after." He picked up the mirror and placed it against the wall before jumping in. I inhaled and stood in front of it. What if I'm not able to get through it? When I pushed Alice, she wasn't able to. Was it because she has no magical powers deep within her? Maybe..

"Bella!" I whipped my head around in time to see Alice skid against the floor, slamming into her door.

"Ali- " I didn't have time to call out her name or to see if she was okay.

Edward's hand came back through the mirror, taking a hold of my arm and dragging my through the Phaze Portal.

The last thing I saw was Alice's petrified face, hands over mouth, holding back what could be a scream.

A/N: Wow, I didn't expect this chapter to be long but I just kept on writing.

I wrote because I thought "Hrm, I'm going to Miami in two weeks so I should at least give my lovely readers something new to read!"

So there you have it. Enjoy my lovelies.

Bottledcoke.


	8. Chapter 8

One Winged Angel

Jukebox: All To Myself - Marianas Trench

Chapter 8 - Seeking.

Bella's P.o.V

I ignored Edward for the rest of the day, not in the mood to talk to him. Not after he dragged me away from my one and only sibling before I could finally explain and show her that I was telling the truth. But the good thing was that she saw what happened. She _knew_ I was telling the truth now. The expression on her face said it all.

When we passed through the Phaze Portal, people gasped in awe while others screamed. Even if they recognized their prince, they probably still feared the power of this mystical object.

Once we reached the ground, he muttered something under his breath. A wave of colours began to dance around us, it made me dizzy, causing me to stumble back a bit but Edward reached out to grab my arm to steady me. As soon as the colours appeared, they left and we were suddenly standing in a large room.

There was a bed, larger than a kings size in the corner of the room with a thick tan blanket, simple gold designs lacing each corner and four fluffy matching pillows to go with it. The walls were a pale amaranth pink, decorated with various of odd paintings that no one would have thought up painting in the first place. There was three large windows on the wall opposite of the bed with ash gray curtains that were too long and piled up on the floor.

'All of these colours just clash together.. nothing matching. Even the floor is a marble mahogany colour.'

"You'll be staying here. It's bare so feel free to fill it up with what you want. I'll give you money to start you out."

"Start me out? I don't plan on staying here long."

"No?"

"I don't belong here," I grit through my teeth and threw my hands up into the air. "If you hadn't notice!"

"But now that you know how to get here and back, you can stay as long as you like."

"About that.. "

"Hmm?"

"This morning, I tried.. forcing my sister through the mirror."

"What?" He hissed and gripped my shoulders painfully.

"I had to tell her where I went! I was missing for three days, do you know how hard that is on her? She thought I was on drugs, anyways."

"Is that why the mirror was broken?"

"Yeah."

"This is troublesome."

"And she saw you pulling me through awhile ago." He sighed, took his hands off my shoulders and rubbed his temples.

"Looks like I'm going to have to ask my dad to strengthen the magical wards on the Phaze Portal."

"How do I pass through the mirror, anyways?"

"You don't know?"

"Obviously, that's why I'm asking you."

"Don't get smart, you forget who you're talking to."

"You're so haughty," I sighed and walked over to the bed, testing out the comfort of it. Mhmm, nice.

"I'm not going to answer you if you're going to be like that."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Now, how do I pass through the mirror?"

"All you have to do is think, to believe that there is another place other than where you are. It has to stir deep within your heart so the Phaze Portal can accept you."

"But.. when I first passed through, I thought nothing of the sort."

"You may not have thought it, but somewhere, buried within, something must have been calling out to it."

I stared at him, blinking a couple of times. He was giving me a what seemed to be a charming smile. But I was anything _but_ charmed. More like my mind was boggling around this whole thing. It was still pretty hard to take it. I dropped my head in defeat, feeling tired even though it was in the middle of the day.. The day..

"Edward, what is today?"

"Today? Today is Yellow, obviously. Haven't you seen the ground?"

"You _freak_." I whispered and pointed a finger.

"What?"

"Today is Thursday."

"What is this.. 'Thursday' you speak of?"

"It's a day in the week."

"Oh, no. There's no day in the week called 'Thursday'."

I continued to stair at him and he clearly looked like he was getting offended.

"It must be the difference in our worlds, then." He concluded, placing a finger on his chin.

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"So.. today would be Thursday. What about tomorrow?"

"Friday."

"Friday? It sounds like a food. Tomorrow is Purple." I couldn't help but laugh.

"Everything here is bizarre, I never would have thought anything like this place would exist."

"I would have to same for your world. It was such a.. dirty place."

"Yep, well, that's planet Earth for you."

"You live on _the_ "Planet Earth"?"

"Yeah. _Exciting_, huh? Not compared to this place." I murmured to myself.

"Our world has been hearing about unusual things on your planet." I whipped my head around to him, eyes wide.

"Unusual?"

"Yeah. Like the earth crumbling, massive zaps coming down from the sky, twirly winds and more."

"Earth crumbling.. earthquakes.. thunderstorms.. tornadoes.. " I whispered each natural disaster, my shoulders shaking in fear.

"Ah, is that what you call them?" All I could do was nod my head.

He sat down on the bed next to me, placing a hand on the small of my back and began rubbing soothing circles but it did little to help settle my nerves.

"I've heard of them happening more often but I thought that was the Earth having growing pains.. "

"It's going to get worse. Much worse."

"How do you know all this?"

"Because they aren't as unusual as you think they are. Nor are they natural."

"Then what_ exactly _is causing them?"

"The Black, The Cursed, The Damned." I felt my blood run cold at the mention of those three names. Of course I hadn't forgotten Carlisle's history lesson on evil magic.

"Why?"

"We assume they're looking for something. We do know for sure that they're trying to take over all the planets."

"What the hell for? That's wrong!"

"It is but their morals says otherwise. They want to take over all the planets, then they'll make an army of Damned users. Once that task is complete, they'll try and take over this world."

"All that just to take over this place.. ?"

"Yes. The most grandest place of all, why wouldn't they want to take it for themselves? But it's protected by the royal family and other powerful White magic users so they wouldn't stand a chance with whatever army they have now."

"C-can't you and Carlisle gather up the others and save our world?"

"It's not our business to interfere."

"Not your.. the hell it is! It became your business the moment I passed through that damned mirror!"

"It's not that I don't want to help, it's just that everyone else views your planet as a "waste of space"."

"W.. waste of space."

"Yes. That's why they- " I slapped him, preventing him from finishing.

"They are living, breathing people on that planet who deserve to be alive as much as anyone else here!"

There was angry tears streaming down my cheeks but I could careless. This was billions of lives we're talking about here and Edward said that those so called "good magic users" thought we were nothing but dirt on the ground.

"Please don't cry." He reached out to wipe a tear away but I smacked his hand away, refusing to let him touch me.

"Even if the others don't want to help, my dad is trying his best. The Phaze Portal is the only way to your world and ours. We're trying to protect it because lately, dark users have been trying to get through and come succeeded."

"No.. "

"They're getting stronger. Even as we speak, both sides of good and evil are creating one huge army. There is going to be a war soon. No one knows when but need to be prepared for the worst."

"And you'll know when you're close to war is when Earth is completely taken over.. "

"That is correct."

No longer did I care for my pride. I straight out bawled. I was wracked with sobs, my frame shaking uncontrollably.

It was too much, too soon. I never knew any of this was going to be deep. One moment, it's just a different world from any other, no harm done and the next moment I find out that Earth is going to be taken over by evil and destroyed beyond repair.

Where is my part in all this? Why do I have magic within me in the first place?

_Why me?_

A/N: Short Chapter! I figured I'll write one or two or three more short chapters(since that's what I can handle at the moment) before leaving on the 24th!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was pretty fun to write!

Bottledcoke


	9. Chapter 9

One Winged Angel

Jukebox: My Will - Dream(Inuyasha)

* * *

Chapter 9 - Lies.

Bella's P.o.V

When I forced myself to sit up, I realized I had fallen asleep from crying. The good thing was, I didn't soak the bed this time. The bad thing was, I felt like a ton of weight was placed on my shoulders.

"My head.. " I whined, feeling a headache slowly coming on.

Looking down, I noticed that I was tucked under the blankets. Edward must have done that when I passed out. I also noticed I still had that horrible gown on.

Ugh.

There was a knock on the door, a meek "I'm coming in" and entered a petite maid. She walked in with slow, sure steps, keeping her eyes on the ground but would sometimes swift look up at me.

As she neared closer, I noticed her shoulders began to visibly shake.

"Excuse me?" She flinched at the sound of my voice, making me frown.

"Y-yes, ma'am?"

"Are you cold? Your shivering."

"N-no, ma'am, Mousy is alright."

"Mousy.. is that your name?" She gave a nod before setting a tray of food on the bed and, what looked to be some clothes, beside the tray. "Are you afraid of me?"

"I.. I am."

"Why?"

"T-t-t-the Prince! Prince Edward told me you were a wicked woman who could breathe fire like the dragons in the mountains!"

"That.. bastard.. " I swear he had a death wish or something, calling me wicked..

"I'm sorry, miss! Don't burn me with fire!"

"Whoa, whoa! Settle down! I don't breathe fire."

"The Prince would never lie to Mousy!" To prove myself, I opened my mouth breathed out as roughly as I could. The poor maid screamed, her arms flying in front of herself to offer some 'protection'. After a few moments, she lowered her arms and peeked over at me.

"See," I said while grinning, arms crossed over my chest "There's no way I can breathe fire."

"So.. the Prince was l-lying.. "

"It seems that way."

"Forgive me for my rudeness, ma'am!"

"Don't worry about it, no harm done, right? And you can call me Bella."

"Sorry but it's forbidden for servants to call guests by their first name unless told so by the King or Prince themselves."

"Oh, I see."

"But Bella is a rare name, I'm surprised you were named that."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh. But it's all ancient history. People must be getting over the past."

"Excuse me, but what- "

"How rude of me! Here is your breakfast," She placed the tray of food onto my lap before moving to get the clothes. "This here is some wear that the Prince picked out himself. It would please him if you were to wear it."

"Okay, but- "

"Mousy must be going now! More duties to fulfill! Have a good morning,_ miss_!" And with that, she scampered out of the room, closing the doors behind her.

I sighed and looked down at the tray on my lap before reeling back. More weird looking food in different shapes and sizes!

Picking up what looked to be a solid green round ball, it was really squishy. With hesitation,

I took a small bite and groaned. It tasted like heaven.

I greedily ate it before stuffing my face with two other odd shaped food before feeling completely full. But something else had caught my attention.

There, sitting on the tray, was a glass of foam.. Sugar Sugar Blast.

I grabbed the glass and stared at the foam with awe. This is what suppose to help me boost my magic. I suppose it's suppose to help until I can call upon magic by will.

With a deep breath, I put the glass to my lips, tilted my head back and sucked in the foam. Within seconds I started to feel refreshed, more awake and alert. It was a great feeling, to have the magic flowing through my veins, it made me want to learn much quicker.

With a lighter mood than yesterday, I hopped out of bed and checked out the clothes that were bought for me. The first article of clothing was a smocked top that has a rich paisley design, while multicoloured bandanna fabric is patched together to create a gypsy looking style, flowing freely just above the knees.

Next was a sassy long loose sleeved shirt, cropped to show a little bit of the stomach and v-neck. It was a rich royal blue colour with tiny gold specks at the end of the long sleeves. with it was a matching skirt that reached the floor.

Up next was a simple white sundress with lace at the bottom. I liked simple.

And the last piece had to be the skimpiest clothing ever.

It was the smallest tube top with a thin piece if fabric going from the middle of the bust, down to the skirt which barely covered anything.

_'Yeah, I bet he would be pleased if I wore that. Sorry Mousy, but your king is an idiot.'_

I went with the first dress. I quickly got out of that awful gown and carefully put on the exotic clothing. It felt like butter against my skin.

I did a few twirls around the room, loving the way the dress flew. After checking myself out in the mirror, that I failed to noticed yesterday, I was satisfied with my look. Except for my hair. I did my best to comb it with my fingers and got it to a presentable look.

Done with everything, I skipped my way out of the room and down the halls of the palace.

After five minutes of walking, I realised I didn't have a clue where I was. When a servant was passing with a tray of food, I asked for directions. But that didn't help either, I got even more lost until I begged a maid to take me to Edward.

Half an hour later, I was knocking on huge double cherry oak doors while rocking on the balls of my feet.

A muttered _'come in'_ was all I heard from the other side and I opened the door, revealing a room filled with papers, scrolls and odd artifacts, laying around everywhere. Behind numerous piles of paper was a old looking desk, with more papers piled onto it and Edward sitting behind said desk. He had a pen in one hand and gripping his hair with the other.

"Is something wrong?"

"A lot of things." I waited for him to say something more and he sighed. "Trading goods is getting harder each day, with bandits starting to ambush the trading men, people have been demanding highly skilled escorts, which costs a lot of money, depending on which kind of bodyguards they're looking for."

"Oh, I see."

"Yes. So most traders can't afford bodyguards, forcing us to take action and travel, which costs us money."

"I've learned something about this world."

"Hrmm?"

"Money here makes the world go around, too." I couldn't help but laugh at my lame joke while Edward gave me a pointed look before scribbling his signature down onto some papers.

"Magic, Bella. Here, magic makes the world go round. And the trades aren't normal, either. The food trades go into town, the valuables and weapons come straight to the palace."

"Weapons for the war?"

"That's right. We must be prepared at any moment should the Dark Users strike."

"Am I going to get trained?" At this, he looked up at me, face serious.

"Are you saying that you want to go to war?"

"I'm saaaying.. that I MAY want to go to war, but I also want to learn to use my own magic without having to think about it."

"Be- "

"You never know, I might need it some day."

"I guess you're right."

"Of course I am." He chuckled and placed his pen down before getting up and walking over to me.

"Did you know, that adrenaline also plays a part in this?"

"W-what do you mean?" I nearly lost my breath when he stood close, so close that I could feel his breath washing over my forehead.

"It's happened before, right? You got a kick of adrenaline and you were pumped with magic." He began to circle me, his fingers brushing against my arms, back and neck.

"I g-guess so.. "

He stopped in front of me, invading my personal bubble but at the moment, I didn't mind.

He started to lower his head and my mind began to numb itself. When he was about to reach my lips, he stopped, hovering there for a moment.

"Edwar- "

"Do you feel your heart speeding up?"

"Yes."

"Is the feeling exhilarating?"

"Yes."

He suddenly pulled back, patted my shoulder and smiled.

"See, it's perfectly easy to get a rush. But you have Foam Sugar Sugar Blast in your system at the moment too. Don't want to over-do it."

And with that, he walked past me and out of the study but not before putting a hand in the air, waving.

I exactly didn't know what to feeling at the moment. Glad because we didn't kiss, disappointed that we _didn't_ kiss or pissed that he purposely led me on to thinking we were gonna kiss.

"It's not like I wanted you to kiss me in the first place anyways, stupid.. "

* * *

A/N: Another short chapter done, but a chapter nonetheless! And if it's messed up in anyway, I'm sorry! I'm writing on my small laptop and I'm not used to the writing pad on here! Plus everything is so small. Oh, I'm using this 'cause my other laptops power cord went BAM! and stopped. (Sob)

Bottledcoke


	10. Chapter 10

One Winged Angel

Jukebox: Telephone - Lady Gaga (Hello, hello, baby you called? I can't hear a thing ;D )

Chapter 10 - You dun goof'd.

. . .

Edward's P.o.V

. . .

A week had passed since I had called in one of my old teachers to come in and teach Bella. The old coot was expensive but taught very well and explained everything in great detail. Bella herself asked to be trained until she spat blood. Of course I passed this message onto the teacher.

True to their word, at the end of the day, Bella was spitting blood. She yelled, telling me that I didn't have to take her seriously. Her reactions amuse me. No other would dare treat me the way she does. Of course, she wasn't from this world, thus having no reason to treat me like the others do. But still, she plays a dangerous game.

Stretching, I scratched my tussled bronze locks, cracking a few bones in the process. The sun was just beginning to set its rays into my room through the window and I smiled. Some things never change. My smile dropped. But things were going to get ugly soon.

"I can't waste another minute of this time. Each second is important." I murmured to myself, forcing my legs to swing over to the side of the bed.

The cold floor made my body wrack in shivers, waking me up even more. Thoughts of planning had already began to run through my mind as I got into my private hot springs. The water, set at the perfect temperature, soothed the muscles I had pulled while sleeping.

First on todays list was the usually morning training, then breakfast and then head for to the den for the rest of the morning to do paper work. Usually Bella would be up after I had breakfast but now that she's got a teacher, she'll be waking up around the same time as me.

The thought of her waking up this early, tired and confused almost made me chuckle.

Maybe I will just skip todays training and see how Bella's coming along with her progress.

. . .

I stood against the marble glass wall in a light blue threaded silk t-shirt and matching large pants. The wind blew against me gently, knocking off water droplets from my hair and onto my shoulders. It was yet another beautiful day of sunshine and yellow ground, I could just laze about all day and-

"Oof!" Bella landed on her back, rather roughly, causing the wind to get right knocked out of her. She curled onto her side, sucking in a gust of air before hacking it out.

"No, no, no! You must get up! On the battlefield, your enemy won't give you time to breathe!" The teacher sent another spell towards Bella's way, which she was barely able to dodge.

"Give me a break!"

"They won't be giving breaks on the battlefield!" He cried hysterically, sending another spell towards her.

"Teacher, I think you should at least give her a break. She recently started taking classes to learn magic around the same time you started teaching her. So I think you should teach Ms. Swan about defending herself and once she learns more spells, you can begin combat training."

"As you wish, Prince Cullen." The older male bowed to his leader before turning back to Bella. "Rise!"

She scrambled to her feet and stood stiff as a board. The teacher began to show her the best defensive spells and positions. I continued watch in amusement when Bella didn't make a position perfect, he would smack her lightly on the head wit ha rolled up parchment.

It wasn't until three hours later that Bella had been able to perform five correct defense stances, although there was many more to learn, she was doing good for her first time.

I locked my gaze on her face, serious, sweating, determined and focus. She panted heavily, holding herself in one of the new stances she learned while the teacher circled her, judging her form. Once he was standing directly in front of her, he gave a smile and a nod. Bella couldn't help but smile herself, releasing the tiring hold she put herself in, before turning towards me and waving.

"Did you see that?" She yelled out to me across the field. I gave her my own small smile and nodded. This seemed to excite her more because she suddenly yelled "Woo!" before laughing.

I couldn't stop staring at her smiling face, filled with joy from finishing such a simple task. At this moment, she looked so beautiful, I couldn't deny it. I stood up properly from my position when she practically skipped her way over to me, causing me to chuckle at her childish behavior.

"I'm pretty hungry now. Is it lunch time yet?"

"Yes, it's lunch time."

"Great!"

We began to walk back into the castle and towards the dining room while Bella hummed some tune I haven't heard before. When we arrived to the dining area, my father was already, as well as a few close friends of hours. When we were seated, Bella immediately started telling Carlisle how her training went. My dad listened, amused before congratulating her on a job well done.

"Edward, I think she deserves the rest of the afternoon off, don't you agree?"

"I suppose you're right. But tomorrow she'll have to work twice as hard to make up for what she misses today." Bella didn't seem to like the idea but I knew she'd wanna take the rest of the day off after what she just went through.

. . .

Bella's P.o.V

. . .

I walked through the town that once feared me, and possibly still does. People stared, pointed and gossiped. I've heard more rumors in this town than I have in my whole high school life. But I ignored their stares and looked at the different foods and trinkets. Everything looked exotic and expensive but Edward had assured me that I could get anything I want and just tell them to bill the palace.

_'Yeah, right,'_ I snorted and earned myself a few awkward stares. Coughing, I spun around to check out the other side of the street. There was absolutely nothing that I wanted here because nothing simply interested me. I watched women pick up all kinds of items, gushing how useful they would be for this, useful for that.

"You don't seem very interested in these girly things." A deep voice spoke beside me, nearly scaring me out of my wits.

"Oh, it's because, uhm.. Hey, you're.. " The name couldn't come to me.

"Jacob. I'm hurt that you don't remember me, _Bella_." He gave a teasing, boyish grin.

"Right, Jacob. Sorry." I gave an apologetic smile back, glad I really didn't offend him.

"So you're still here."

"Huh?"

"Last time we met, you said you were just a traveler. It has been quite awhile since then."

"Oh, yeah. Well some things got complicated and it seems like I'm going to stay here for awhile."

"Really? Will you be needing some more money then?" He made a move to grab some change from his pocket but I shook my head, waving my hands in front of me.

"No, no! It's okay, I'm fine on my own now, but thank you. I should repay you for last night."

"Now, now, that's fine. I don't mind helping a fine lady such as yourself." He gave a seductive smirk when my cheeks burned red with embarassment. "So did you find a pace to stay at while you're here?"

"Uh-huh. I'm staying at the palace." This caused his eyebrows to rise and I explained, "The prince saw that I was a troubled traveler and offered me to stay at the palace while I'm here."

"Interesting. Royal families are usually wary of people they haven't seen before but for them to welcome you with open arms? Wow."

"Really? Well I sort of grabbed the prince's attention without knowing it."

"Let's take a walk to the outskirts of the village, where it's quieter, and you can tell me about it."

He started to lead me to the place he had in mind, grabbing onto my hand so I wouldn't get lost in the crowd. It was close to a ten minute walk but I entertained myself by looking around and checking out the yellow clouds below my feet. When he stopped and released my hand, I took in my surroundings. There was lush green everywhere, in the trees and shrubs along the village walls. It was pretty much bare besides a few benches and mountains hours way. I took seat on a stone bench beside Jacob, stretching out my legs.

"So," He started. "Tell me how you ended up staying at the palace."

"Well, I was suspicious to everyone, since they haven't seen me before, "I started out, trying to tell the truth as much as possible but leaving out the information about my mirror travels. "And the second night I was here, I was being hunted. The barmaid running the tavern kicked me out, saying that if she was caught having me stay there, they would punish her. So I left and went to into the ally. I was sure I'd get caught, I heard many soldiers marching around.

I hid behind a tall building for awhile, hoping they would give up but the prince appeared beside me. I knew it was him because I had gotten his blessings the day before. Apparently he placed a tracking spell on me. He was pretty persistent on bringing me back to the castle, he even tried to cast a spell on me with his eyes, coaxing me smoothly. But I had this feeling building up within me, it started out as a small push and it grew bigger and bigger, trying to force its self out. It became too much for me to hold onto anymore and something inside me broke, thus flinging me back and hitting a wall from behind and I blacked out."

I watched him from the corner of my eyes as he took in this information before continuing.

"When I woke up, I was in the most comfortable bed ever. But I was also half naked." The memory of Edward looking at me cooly, as if my body did nothing for him, caused anger to bubble up inside me. "The king and prince had placed these," I rolled up both of my sleeves to show Jacob the matching ring tattoo's. He gasping, reaching out the run his finger along one of them. "on me so they could keep track of me. And he said that if I ever need him, all I do it put my wrists together, call out his name and_ poof_, he's there.

After some bickering, I decided to stay in the palace. The prince took interest in me when he found out I didn't know how to use magic but some how had a burst of it come up and fling me- "

"Wait, you don't know how to use magic?" He interrupted me, giving a "I don't believe" you look.

"Nope, never used it a day in my life. Well, until recent events."

"Wow.. it's almost as if you're not even from this world." That comment made me laugh nervously while I scratch my arm.

"But he's having me go to school to learn magic and and paying one of the best teachers to teach me defense."

"That's nice of him."

"Mhmm."

It was silence for a couple minutes and I hoped that Jacob didn't think of me as a freak now. Psh, what am I talking about, they're the ones who are the freaks. He leaned forward, elbows on each knee, brows furrowed. He looked as if he was thinking extremely hard. I was about to ask him if he was okay but he stood up so quickly, it almost made me fall off the bench.

"Hey, why don't I teach you some magic?"

".. Huh?" My jaw slacked at his sudden enthusiasm.

"It'll be fun, I promise. I bet those classes you're taking take forever to getting to the point of the spell. I can tell you straight up and show you the easiest way."

"Really? But are you sure? What if I mess up and.. "

"Don't worry about it. I'll be able to protect you and myself if something goes wrong." He sent me a reassuring smile which made up my mind instantly.

I explained to Jacob what we were currently learning in class and he scoffed, saying it shouldn't take five classes to explain it then another three to practice said spell. In about ten minutes, he explained to spell to me in simplest terms and another ten to show me how to cast in._ "You should be learning three-to-four spells each class! Who hired such a loony?" _He growled at one point.

I watched in amazement as I learned spells, one after another. It was was almost as easy and breathing air. He told me that it was just basics but once I get the hang of using them, I could advance on. The thought of using magic without having to think about it excited me, made me all the more motivated.

I began to notice that the colours of the spells glowed brighter. Blinking, I took in the darkening surroundings. The sun was setting. Jacob seemed to notice as well and stood up from his seat on the ground, sending a grin my way.

"You did really well."

"You think so?" I couldn't help but smile widely at him, eyes wide. He looked surprised but blushed at our closeness.

"Yeah, I didn't think you'd catch on so quickly."

I started to do a little dance for my 'victory' but was knocked off my feet by a sudden explosion. The force was so strong that I was flung into the village wall, face first. I heard something crack and pain began to shoot out through my whole body. I tried to scream but the wind was knocked out of me and I was too shocked to breathe. I heard someone yelling behind me, cursing.

Another explosion blew rubble in our direction and snapped me out of my shock. I inhaled deeply and coughed harshly, the pain making it hard to do both. I felt someone grab my arms and lift me up, shaking me. It was Jacob. I saw his lips move but no noise came out. I scrunched up my face and placed my hands over my ears with a shake of my head. His lips stopped moving, understanding dawned on his face. He took his index and middle finger together and pressed the pads against the middle of my forehead.

_'The explosion must have been too loud for you. You're temporarily deaf but it'll subside in a couple hours. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you, I should have sensed the attack from miles away. I sense that whoever is doing this is not done this ambush so you must go back to the palace quickly.'_

I was mentally shocked that he could use his mind to speak to me but that wasn't what was important at the moment. I grabbed his hand and started to tug him back past the village walls, in the direction of the palace but he shook my hands away before putting two fingers on my forehead again.

_'You go on ahead! I'll stay here and hold off the attackers as long a I can while you get yourself to safety.'_ I started to shake my head, to leave him to fend himself is crazy. He cupped my face with his other hand and sent a charming smile my way, which was totally inappropriate for the situation. _'Don't worry about me, darling, I'm stronger than you think. Now, GO!'_

I felt the magic within his push and I didn't bother resisting it. I, now, easily pushed magic down to my feet to gain more speed, nearly tripping a couple more times when more rubble was thrown around. I may not be able to hear at the moment but I can see people screaming while running in the direction of the palace. It was probably the safest place in their city.

All too soon, I reached a long line up of people waiting to get into the palace. I stood behind a family of five, their daughters and sons sobbing uncontrollably. It made my want to cry once I seriously thought of the situation. I didn't want to die alone in a foreign place. I may know one or two people but I wanted to be with people I loved.

I began to feel something prick my eyes and I breathed deeply, trying to calm myself down. I couldn't cry, not now.

_!_

I heard the noise of something screeching within my head and whirled around in time to see a large black ball heading towards the crowd waiting to get inside the castle. The black ball looked electrifying, terrifying and it felt cold. My breathing began to quicken as it came closer, it had destroyed a few buildings on its way here, merely grazing by them.

I felt the static in the air, tiny shocks had started to zap me. The people started to panic even more, shoving anyone in their way so they could get to the palace much quicker. I felt something build inside me. It was like the time I was with Edward in the ally, but this felt stronger, bigger. The air around me picked up harshly, whirling in all different directions.

_'I will not allow harm come to my people!'_

I grit my teeth and held my arms outstretched at my sides, fingers spread. The magic that flowed through me felt more powerful, free and vicious. It felt so wonderful, I could almost laugh. But there was no time for that. I wasted no time in creating a shield around myself. Easy part was done. I now forced myself to to expand that shield. It was a little more difficult than I had expected. I was now breathing heavily with sweat running down my face.

A quick glance at the faces around me made my mind up but a sharp, excruciating pain hit me in the chest. I whirled around, drawing in the darkness but it felt like something was being ripped from one side of my back. It was all becoming too much..

I welcomed the darkness.

. . .

A/N: I'm back from break! Miami was great. And hot. And humid. Poor little Canadian almost melted.

It took me awhile to get some motivation, I thought this was going to be a super short chapter. But here it is. I couldn't resist calling the chapter title what it is. I think it fits well. I thought of putting "Double Rainbow" but that's not related to the story. I also wished I could have made Edward's P.o.V longer but I wrote that when I didn't have inspiration, sorry. Enjoy, my lovely little readers.

PS. I've started to take a fancy to Cutlet Beckett, even though he's a complete dickface. I think it's the wig. That is all.

Bottledcoke


	11. Chapter 11

One Winged Angel

Jukebox: Sweet Shop(Dubstep) - Doctor P

Chapter 11 - Ka-Bang!

. . .

Bella's P.o.V

. . .

The first thing I felt was something cool and wet against my forehead. It felt nice. The next thing I started to feel was pain spreading across my back, chest and face. Grunting, I tried to move, to try and somehow ease this pain that was building but it was quickly numbed so I slacked back down, breathing out heavily. When I opened my eyes, I was greeted with the site of the King standing over me, a worried expression on his face.

"I really do not know what you were thinking but it must have been pretty stupid."

".. What happened?" I rasped out and he sent me a troubled looking but didn't answer.

Instead, he carried on attending me, waving his hand up and down my face, slowly. After muttering a few words under his breath, his hand hovered over my nose. "Take a deep breath" He said and I complied. Without warning, his hand jerked to the side and there was a cracking noise. I screamed for a second but then I felt a cool sensation around the middle of my face.

"Sorry, I had to put your nose back in to place. How did it get broken anyways?"

"There was a few explosions while I was out by the village walls and one of them knocked me right into the wall. So that's what cracked.. " I muttered and coughed, trying to clear my throat.

"Edward shouldn't have been so careless as to let you roam free, he knows it's not safe around her anymore." The King scolded softly, taking the cloth off my head, re-wetting it and placing it back on.

"What happened when everyone was waiting to get into the palace? Did they.. " I couldn't finish my sentence, scared by the answer.

"They're safe, all thanks to you!" Edward barged in, his eyes wild, his lips pulled back into a snarl. His expression and sudden entrance scared me.

"Isn't that a good thing?" I tried to smile but his mere presence intimidated me at this moment.

"Yeah, that's a good thing. But you almost killed yourself in the precess."

"... What?"

"You don't remember?" He growled and grabbed my shoulders. He started to shake me, as if trying to knock some sense into me. "How can you not remember!"

"Edward, stop it!" Carlisle demanded, his voice full of authority. The Prince instantly stopped but kept his hands on my shoulders, giving them a painful squeeze.

"Are you sure you don't remember?"

"I'm positive." He sighed and hung his head low for a moment before looking me in the eyes.

"I was at the doors of the palace, directing people in, one family at a time. I saw the black magic coming from miles away but I believe I could get everyone in on time before it could come. Obviously I was wrong so I left the guards to do the job while I went to go out and fend off the dark magic.

I spotted you, naturally you stand out without even trying to. When I saw your panicked face, all I thought about at that moment was to direct to the front of the line into safety. But then I saw a determined look on your face. You had spread out your arms and I could feel your magic flowing freely, oozing from your pores.

You had created a shield around yourself, which probably would have made teacher proud and I noticed you had tried expanding it. But you also seemed to noticed the dark magic's quick approach by the look on everyone's faces.

That's when you did something incredibly stupid, like drawing that dark energy ball towards you. It first hit your back and you seemed like you couldn't even handle it for more than a second so you switched to your front, which was probably worse. I began screaming and I got to you in time to made the dark magic disappear. Your clothes were ripped in the front and back, skin burned black, cuts all over your body. You even began to cough up black blood, which is your body rejecting the dark magic that had entered you. You're lucky your body even did that. Most immune systems find that taste of magic so sweet they embrace it and slowly turn.

After that you passed out and I brought you inside for Carlisle to heal. That was a few hours ago. Everyone is still in a panic but that black energy ball has been the last sign of an attack."

I sat still, staring down at my hands. It was a whole lot to take it. I do remember telling myself that I wouldn't allow these people to get hurt but I certainly don't remember sacrificing myself. It was a brave but stupid thing to do. What about Jacob? Did he..

"W-wait, is my friend alright?"

"Friend?" Edward finally released his hold on my shoulders and raised a single brow.

"Yeah, I was with him before the attack happened. He's the one who made me head back here when I wanted to stay and help him fight." This bit of information caused Edward to frown and he shook his head.

"I haven't encountered anyone who said they were looking for you."

"Oh God.. Oh God! Then he must be.. "

"There have been no reports of dead bodies, just several injuries." Carlisle assured me and I relaxed a little bit. But it didn't put me at complete ease.

"That's good. I'm going to go look for him." I made a move to get up but was pushed, lightly, to lay back down by Edward who was shaking his head again.

"You need to rest. I'm sure your friend will come looking for you when everything's settled down. If there's word that someone is looking for you, I'll fetch them for you. What is her name?"

"_His_ name is Jacob."

"A guy?" He cocked his head to the side.

"Yeah."

"Humm."

Carlisle began to treat more my smaller wounds while Edward watched. It felt a little nerve wracking having him stare at me for more than a minute without saying anything. I tried to have a staring contest with him,

which was a horrible idea. I couldn't last longer than a minute and had to look away, my face growing hot. I tried glaring but the look in his eyes intensified. I settled for just staring down at my bandaged fingers. The horrible thing about his staring was that I could feel his gaze, making me self conscious.

When Carlisle had finished, I attempted to get up again but Edward was there to push me back down. I sent him a glare.

"Don't look at me like that." He mused before continuing. "You need to _rest_. Just because Carlisle healed your wounds doesn't mean your one-hundred percent better. You have to heal some wounds on your own by sleeping them off, plus your body is probably weary."

"I suppose so." I huffed with annoyance before settling back into the pillows He sat himself on the bed, beside my waist and stared down at me. "What?" I finally snapped, unable to handle his probing eyes any longer.

"Just looking. You had such a dangerous air about you a few hours ago, it was kind of a turn on." I flushed at his joke and he chuckled. "Try and get some rest."

"Can you tell me a story first?" This set him back, not expecting such a odd request.

"If that will help you sleep then I will. What story would you like to hear?"

"Tell me about this world. Tell me of it's past."

"So.. you want more of a history lesson." I shrugged.

"It's all the same to me. I'm fascinated with this world, I want to know more about it." He seemed to swell with pride before making himself comfortable, as if getting ready to tell a long tale.

He spoke of mythical creatures I've only read about, places and names that were so bizarre I almost didn't believe him. He spoke of the peace that was kept, rarely any wars broke out. It sounded like Earth needed to

take a lesson from this place. He told me of old legends, goddesses, gods. He went into great detail about a certain ruler, waving his hands animatedly, explaining how they fought to save their world. He went on about the darker things.

Some of the stories he told wasn't pleasant but most of them were bright and happy. He told me that most of the stories were told to him by his father and that when he spoke of the horrible things, he had such a painful look on his face, Edward couldn't help but mimic the expression. I felt a slight throb in my chest at the thought of what some people went through.

My eyes had started to droop and Edward noticed. He made a move to get up but I reached out to grab the sleeve of his shirt. With a weak tug I frowned up at him, trying to put more strength into my hold but it was no use. I realised a light flow of magic hovering around my head, making me feel relaxed. It was so soothing, like I was floating in the clouds. But the magic made me a little suspicious when it grew stronger, making me feel extremely light headed.

He had used magic to try and force me asleep.

"You bas- " The next wave hit me hard and I fell asleep with an angry scowl on my face.

. . .

When I awoken the next day, I felt completed rested and clear headed for the first time in weeks. But I wasn't about to go thanking him after that stunt he had pulled last night. Sitting up, I couldn't surpass a groan. I felt sore all over, bruised in some spots. The Kings magic must have worn off sometime during the middle of the night. It was mostly my back what was hurting, throbbing. But I sucked it up and got out of bed.

I welcomed the cool floor as it sent a shiver up my back, temporarily numbing the pain from my back but it came as soon as it went. With weak limbs, I walked over to the closet to search for some clothes. After a few minutes of picking through articles of clothing, I took out a royal dark blue shirt that almost looked like a poncho and shorts that reached my knees and flowed out almost like bell bottoms.

Checking my self out in the mirror, I approved before slipping on sandals and heading out the door. The hallway was packed with maids and servants rushing around with clothes, food and bandages. I was able to spot the maid who was with me a few days ago and stopped her before she could pass by me.

"Hey, what's going on?" I asked while she looked like a tired, nervous wreck.

"Everyone's rushing to aid the people that came to the palace for shelter. A lot are wounded and the workers are trying their best to help." She was about to rush off when I grabbed her wrist again.

"Sorry! But where's Prince Edward?"

"He's in a meeting with the King and they're magically communicating with other leaders around the world about the attack. I'm sorry, miss, but I have to go!" She wretched herself out of my grasp and hurried down the hall.

I decided to make myself useful and help out the people outside and while doing so, I can look for Jacob as well. I can only pray that he didn't get hurt..

. . .

Edwards P.o.V

. . .

I watched the mirror in front of me intently, taking in the words the leader spoke on the other side of the mirror. Such mirrors were not rare but only common among the rich. It' a simple round metal framed mirror that you can pass through to other parts of the world. But the Phaze Portals allow you to jump into different worlds.

The old coot on the other side had said that he wasn't going to send any troops or aid to help us through this 'minor' attack. He said he'd rather wait until a big war broke out, only then will he allow his men to come so they can die with honor, not during some pathetic ambush.

I was ready to jump through the mirror to express, physically, my anger but my dad sent a pointed look at me. I then huffed out in annoyance and kept my mouth shut from then on. We quickly ended that meeting before starting up another meeting wit ha different leader. The first three we talked to were no help at all, cowering in their homes.

Everyone knows that this village, largest, most grandest and high in riches, is the most important place on this planet. Everyone knows how important it is for our survival but when one attack happens, everyone is afraid to do something. It's almost as if they wanted the Dark users to take over the world.

I decided to let my mind drift off.

It was noisy earlier, the staff had been up all night, aiding those within the castle but some had gone out to the village to help. I had put up a barrier around my dad, the mirror and myself so we could have a meeting in peace.

Had the noise woken Bella up? She was so cute yesterday, grabbing onto me. I could see in her eyes that she wanted me to stay until she fell asleep but I had to business that needed to be done. So I sent some magic to her through our touching. She caught on quick and was ready to call me a bad word but I sent more dose of sleeping magic into her, cutting her off before she could complete said word. I told her girls shouldn't talk like that.

I couldn't help but stay for a few minutes more, amused by how her mouth kept the scowl, but I smoothed it out for her to prevent wrinkles from happening. She'd thank me one day. Mumbling in her sleep seemed to be natural.

She mumbled little things about her family, friends, life. At last she breathed out my name. I was shocked and yet pleased at how easily my name rolled off her tongue, even in sleep. I leaned in and kissed her closed eye. Her eyelashes fluttered while she made some odd noises before I kissed her other closed eye and got the same effect. I went lower to kiss her nose which made her face pinch for a moment before relaxing again. I had to hold back from laughing.

I then stood back and headed out to find my dad to talk over some plans.

But if Bella is up, that must also mean she's still feeling yesterdays events. And pains. She would be needing magic to ease the pain for awhile since she wasn't that advanced into magic.

"I'm going to look for Bella." I suddenly said to my father and stood up. He looked startled but nodded, his face weary and tired.

"She's going to be needing some of the pain eased away. Get to her quick" I nodded and went out of the bubble shield, out the room and into the hallway.

I was greeted with the site of rushing staff but once they saw one, they made way, bowing as they passed by. My first trip was to Bella's room. I wasn't surprised that she wasn't there, she didn't seem like the type to just sit around and wait for something to happen. So I stepped back out and glanced along the all way, watching maids struggle pass each other, trying to bring aid to the village people. I stood in front of a random maids way and she hurriedly bowed.

"What may my Lord need?"

"Do you know what happened to our guest, Bella? She is not within her room."

"I believe she went out into the village to help those in need."

"Thank you, carry on."

"Yes, my Lord." I moved out of the way to let her go by.

I felt a warm feeling come over me at the thought of Bella helping those who need it, without having been told to help out. Not only did she not sit around and do nothing, but she makes herself useful. If she heard me say that, I wouldn't doubt she'd try to hit me and say that she isn't some tool. She would probably have an angry emotion on her face but she doesn't know that when she's angry, her emotions are laid out for me to read. She's originally an open book but when she's mad, she's feisty.

The thought made me chuckle until there was shouting from behind me.

"Prince Edward! Prince Edward!" Turning, I saw one of the soldiers running towards me, armor clanking together.

"What is it? Another attack?" The soldier shook his head furiously.

"Two people had come through the Phaze Portal! Not one, but TWO!"

"What?" I felt my eyes widen and ran towards the exit of the palace, with the help of my magic being pumped to my feet.

Anyone coming through the mirror could have any possibility of being a dangerous enemy..

. . .

Bella's P.o.V

. . .

I was down by the square, helping a nurse wrap bandages around the wounded people. I was enjoying myself, helping others out, but felt a little sad when I still found no sign of Jacob yet. I suppose I better wait until this all clears up before I start looking for him. He's not even from this village so there was a chance that he went back home.

A burst of white light and screaming citizens caused me to jump up and get into a defensive stance. Had the Dark users come back to attack this place already? Hadn't they had enough? I breathed in deeply through my nose, trying to calm my nerves down, dodging villagers while I headed in the opposite direction.

As more and more people left the square, I was soon greeted with a sight I never thought I would see.

"Alice!" I nearly cried out, ready to run over and embrace her. But the other person made me stop dead in my tracks. "And.. Jasper?"

. . .

A/N: So I'm actually considering making a sequel to Blinding Beautiful. Yet I only have the start of the plot thought out. I don't know what would happen in the middle or how it was end. (Sigh)

Enjoy!

BottledCoke


	12. Chapter 12

One Winged Angel

Jukebox: Imogen Heap - Hide&Seek (Roksonix Dubstep)

Chapter 12 - Anything but a man.

. . .

Bella's P.o.V

. . .

I watched the scene before me with a thousand emotions running at the same time. The few that stood out the most was confusion, happiness and my questions on every day life before and after I had stumbled into this fantasy like world. Alice was on the ground, sitting on her knees and rubbing her sore back while Jasper had stood up, looking around, troubled. After I had called out to Alice, I couldn't say anything more since the sight of Jasper was not expected. What was expected was Alice probably had magic running through her veins, like me but it was still a sight to see her here.

"Bella.. " She finally said, looking over at me with tears welling up in her eyes. "Bella!" She stood and started to run over towards me, ignoring the villagers who fled from her presence.

We hugged for a few seconds before I pulled back.

"I'm not on drugs, okay?" I confirmed and she smiled sweetly up at me.

"Nah, we both are." I whacked her lightly on the back of the head and she couldn't help but laugh.

"Be serious here. Aren't you.. surprised? Afraid? Feeling _delusional_?"

"Surprised, yes, but not afraid. Perhaps if I had come alone, I would be. Delusional? Totally not." I felt a twinge of jealousy. I was all three of those things when I first arrived and she only was one out of three.

"You're taking this pretty well." I commented, annoyed.

"You know how much I like fairy tales. Well, used to. Mom use to tell us stories of fairy tales all the time since the only stories dad told was what interesting artifacts he found." She snorted at that and let her eyes wonder greedily over everything. "Dude, we're standing on clouds."

"Yeah. It changes colour every day and when you walk, it temporarily lights the ground around where you stepped. Oh, and it's hard as the ground back home." She tested it out and could barely contain her excitement.

"Cooooool." She dragged out the 'o' to exaggerate and I shook my head. If only I could take this as well as she did.

"As happy as I am to see you, but.. what exactly is Jasper doing here?"

"Oh. Well after you went through.. the mirror, I locked myself in the house for the few days. Denial and disbelief, you know? Then Jasper started to come over, asking if everything was okay. At first I was afraid to say anything, thinking he might think I was the one on drugs. So after I finally decided to tell him, you know what he said?" She had leaned in and started to whisper and I done the same.

"W.. what did he say?"

"He said.. "You're on drugs, too." And I cried." I couldn't helped but scoff, expecting something good.

"Today when he came over with some medication to "help me with my problems", I dragged him to your room and told him we were going to go through the mirror. He looked so scared and afraid when I said that, he said I'd gone mad. But I held onto his arm and dragged him through with me.

I didn't really think it was going to work. I just wanted to see you so much, to see where you had gone and to prove to myself that I was delusional about you falling through. And to my surprise, we'd gone through."

"So that means he can use it too.. " I whispered to myself, looking over at Jasper who was staring at us intently, eyes guarded. He had never looked that way before..

A swirl of white robes passed us and I noticed it was Edward, who didn't bother to cast us a glance as he headed to Jasper. Alice was about to open her mouth, probably to ask who "the hot guy is" but I shook my

head and motioned her to follow the prince. We stopped a few steps behind him, watching as he looked Jasper up and down.

"Jasper, you look like a buffoon wearing those silly human clothes. And you shaved!" Edward stated while crossing his arms over his chest.

My jaw dropped. Jasper dusted the front of his shirt and gave Edward a bow before raising, his face emotionless.

"Forgive me. These clothes were required to be able to fit in on Earth. And they probably wouldn't have allowed me to go to school if I had a scraggly beard, it made me look much older."

"Hrm. I'll over look it now. But you did look best with a beard, a five o'clock shadow, even."

"I'll get to work on it right away, sir." Edward nodded and turned to Alice and myself, raising a single brow at our expressions.

"I think it'll be more appropriate to talk things out back at the palace instead of here. Jasper, lead them to your old bedroom while I settle things here with the villagers." He suggested, gesturing to the people around

him.

"Yes, m'lord. Lady Alice, Lady Bella, please follow me." Numbly, I willed my legs to follow him, tugging a frozen Alice behind me. She seemed to have a harder time taking this all in.

. . .

"I came from the Blondie Kingdom, which is better known as Astral Kingdom. It's a place that is filled only with blonde's. Even their queen, Rosalie, is a blonde. But a few years ago, she shocked everyone by marrying a dark haired brunette, named Emmett. There was such an outrage when the villagers found out about their secret ceremony but who wouldn't be? For centuries, the queen or king would marry a blonde. There were attempted riots but the queens guard were faithful to the very end, protecting her and the castle.

Queen Rosalie decided to have a public speech about her decision and the elders of the village barely let her start. They raged about how she was breaking traditions that would probably ruin the future, bring disaster to the people. The elders were bent on following traditions that they didn't care about their own queens happiness. One elder crossed the line when she started speaking of Queen Rosalie's late parents. Her exact words were "If your mother and father were alive, they would have disowned you the moment that boy stepped into your life and would have given the crown to someone more reliable." Of course our queen has a reputation of being feisty. She shot back at the elders, unable to keep quiet anymore.

She called everyone there closed minded, saying they were the ones who would probably bring destruction to the village. She gave a great speech about how her parents would be proud that she found the man she loved. She vowed to them that she would change everything so that blonde's wouldn't be the only ones to live there. "I am your ruler and I will guide you with care, protect you with power and love everyone equally." A lot of people were in tears over this speech. It was much deeper than that but it pretty much sums up what she said.

Almost everyone accepted her and her husband, except the elders, who were still bent on getting things their way. But what was important was that her people accepted the marriage. I have never seen her so happy, except for at the wedding ceremony." Jasper went silent for awhile, thinking of something and blinked.

"S-sorry, I went a little off topic there, talking about back home. Astral Kingdom is a pretty closed off place but since Queen Rosalie's speech, she's been using her power to try and open it up more to the public. I was a royal guard for her. Prince Edward had requested a switch, a sign of peace between two kingdoms. So they each sent out one of their best guards. It's different on earth, from what I've read and heard. You sign a couple papers and meet up with the person you're declaring peace with, right? Well here, you give one of your men to the other kingdom. Sometimes the other will request something else but it's mostly guards.

At first I was shocked when my queen decided to send me. I would be the first they sent out, making this kingdom our first alliance. But her majesty trusted me and that alone gave me courage and swell with pride ad of course, she made me promise to visit once in awhile and sent reports about my progress. When arriving, I was stunned by how beautiful it was. Of course we heard rumours about the grandest kingdom of all but I never expected it to be anything like.. this.

It also surprised me when I didn't see much blonde's around, mostly dark haired people were living here. After meeting the king and prince, I was shown to this room and was given the day to settle down and get used to everything. But I didn't get use to things until a month later but the prince was patient and it made things quiet easier. Two years after that, he sent me to Earth, which you probably know why, Bella." I blinked, thought about it for a few seconds before nodding.

"He sent me to Earth to keep an eye on things. He had dispatched others to different planets and my destination just happened to be Earth. If you've noticed, things here grow faster than they do on Earth. For example.. your hair." Instantly I grabbed a handful of hair and looked at it in surprise.

"I never realised how long it's gotten.. I've been so busy with lessons.." It must be close to reaching my butt by now.

"Yes. Well I had a bread that was no longer than shoulder length. I observed people on earth, how they lived, acted, everything. I noticed most of the teens didn't have beards like mine, so I cut it off."

"I thought.. we were childhood friends?" Alice finally spoke for the first time, looking up at Jasper with a wavering heart. But he couldn't meet her gaze and choose to look outside his window instead.

"I had already had my place set up for me on Earth. What I had to do was start by going to school then switch every term and transfer to a new school and repeat. This term was already going to be up soon anyways and looking young is no problem without a little bit of magic involved.

One day I was wondering the streets and you, Alice, had caught my attention. I believe you and Bella were out grocery shopping and you had happy-go-lucky air about you, it drew me in. I'm sure happiness would draw anyone in. So without looking suspicious I went up behind you guys, cast a spell that played and triggered with your memories. I made it seem like we've known each other our whole lives, childhood friends. So when I casually slung my arms over your shoulders, you both smiled at me and we casually walked to your house.

From there I began to poke my way through your memories, picking up on things that I should know, like.. birthdays, names, anything important."

"How could you.. "I breathed, suddenly feeling like there was a stranger in front of us. And he was. These memories were a lie.

"I had to do it for the prince. I merely followed his orders. And you two were picked at random, I didn't mean to cause any harm."

"Is all of it a lie? Everything about you?" Alice asked in a quiet, calm voice. She held herself high, ever taking her eyes off his face. Too bad he couldn't do the same.

"Basic- "

"It's a yes or no answer."

"Yes." She fought for her bottom lip not to tremble but was failing.

"What about your feelings for us? Was that a lie too.. ?" Jasper and I both knew what she was asking. 'Are your feeling for me a lie?'.

Jasper stayed quiet for a moment, keeping his head bent low. I looked at Alice and saw a look of hope on her face, and that scared me. When Jasper raised his head, he finally looked at Alice with an emotionless expression and briefly shook his head.

"Everything about me is a lie." Alice gasped and began to shake. She stood suddenly, her chair falling back and was ready to make a run for it but I clutched the bottom of her shirt to prevent her for doing do. Taking a deep breath, I steadied myself for the next blow, knowing that we both needed to hear it but wouldn't handle it well.

"What did you plan to when you were ready to transfer to a new school?"

"I would have took myself out of your memories, out of your lives."

Alice wretched herself out of my grasp and ran to who knows where. I stood calmly, looking down at my feet before raising my eyes to his. I could see that he was fighting something inside himself, a battle. I knew deep down that there's no way he could have felt nothing while he was hanging with us for.. who knows how long anymore, but there's no doubt he felt something for Alice, too.

"You've got a lot of guts, looking her in the eyes like that," My voice held a charming melody in it, soft and gentle but there was power and authority behind it. He seemed to noticed the change too and watched warily.

"She needed to know the truth."

"But you lied to her while looking her straight in the eye."

"I didn't l- "

"Silence!" He jerked back when my voice went from soft to thunderous. "You act like nothing is wrong with you did but I can see those emotions swimming beneath the surface. Years of training to look emotion can do nothing to hide the admiration and care you hold forAlice, _nothing_. And when you decide to become a _real _man, don't go any where near her." With that I spun on my heel and marched angrily out of the room and down the hall.

After a few minutes of walking aimlessly, I stopped a maid and asked if she saw someone with short spiky black hair. When she asked for a clothing description, all I could say was that she wore 'odd' clothes. She 'ah-hah'd' and pointed in the direction, bowed and went on her way. I jogged my way down the hall, dodging the few maids left that held supplies and opened the large doors.

It was a library that had shelves after shelves after shelves with books. It almost like it would never end but shook my head and swiftly looked around. Of course finding wasn't hard, she didn't exactly keep her sobs quiet. But I knelt beside and and hugged her to my chest. She only cried more and louder, her hands fisting my shirt.

I don't know how long we sat there on the floor but I noticed she started to calm down, steadily taking her hands off my shirt. She stay hugged to my chest but she was staring off into space, her eyes dead. I tried calling her name a couple times but she never reacted. With a sigh, I picked her up bridal style and brought her to my room.

After tucking her in, I made a promise to come back later with food and water, hoped she gets a good rest and slipped out of the room. As soon as I shut the door, I heard the sobbing start up and and closed my eyes, willing myself not to go back in there and comfort her. She needed to be alone.

Opening my eyes, I noticed that the prince was across from me, leaning against the wall..

"How is she?" He asked and I looked away.

"She's in shock, mostly."

"I don't know why she would be." I whipped my head back at him and glared.

"I don't think she would have minded much if Jasper won't return her feelings but what hurt the most of losing memory of what we had of him."

"He was only doing his duty as a guard, as a soldier."

"He should just be a man and deal with things."

"You must not forget it was I who ordered him to do those things before he left for Earth, not to leave his tracks behind."

"What harm could have came from that? We only want to keep our memories! Sure we'd be sad if he transferred to a new school but remembering the time we spent together would have been precious."

"It seems I have to remind you once again that there is a war going on." He walked directly in front of me, stopping just before our bodies touched. It was anything but intimate. He was looking down me as a leader and superior. "Jasper is sent down on a mission to find clues we need to win this war. He stays at school for a year or so and if he finds nothing within that time, he moves on but he must clean up his tracks so no harm comes to those he interacted with. If he were to find love down there, he'd be worried about that person constantly. On the battlefield, he'd always wonder if they're safe on earth or here. A single thought that's not concentrated could cost his his life. When I asked about his love life, he had told me he had no interest in that until after the war. Don't forget, he puts his duty before love."

".. " I couldn't even say anything to that because he was completely right. If I was in Jasper's shoes, I would have done the same thing, even if it did hurt myself in the end, I wouldn't want anyone else to hurt because of my careless actions..

"I believe that you're late for your lesson."

. . .

Two days had passed since that incident and Alice barely said a word. All she did was sleep and I had to force her to eat. She was like a broken doll and it ripped me to pieces that I couldn't do a damned thing about her or Jasper. I hadn't seen him since our chat a few days ago, I assumed he was preforming duties for his damn prince.

Speaking of said prince, I was avoiding him. Which I knew I couldn't forever but it felt unfair to Alice. Why should I get a happy ending when she couldn't. It was be very rude to prance about in front of her face when she was feeling at her lowest.

I froze on that thought, blinking.

"S-stupid, no way he's in my happy ending."

"Who's not in your happy ending?"

"Eep!" I staggered backwards, grabbing onto the railing in front of me.

"Talking to yourself is one of the first signs of a crazy person." I scowled and looked away, not able to face him. "Giving me the silent treatment? Whatever did I do to get on your bad side now?"

I continued to say nothing and there was some shifting behind me. Mildly curious, I was about to turn around until I was pulled back into a broad chest, an arm wrapping across my chest to grab onto my shoulder and another around my midsection. This action made my heart hammer in my chest and I blushed, knowing he would be able to feel it. I didn't bother pushing him away and placed a hand over his on my stomach and the other on his arm across my chest. He bent down to place a kiss on top of my head before lightly resting his chin there.

"I'm sure Jasper feels the same way for Alice but he also feels that it's safer to wait until the war is over. He doesn't want to danger her in any way. I could tell he was struggling with telling me his report last night. He gave a lot of details, tripping over words when he spoke of her. He looked as if he was expecting punishment for even growing feeling while on an important mission but I gave him a smile which creeped him out enough."

"Then why doesn't he just tell her the truth, that after the war he'll be able to tell her his feelings?"

"He feels that this is the best way, the only way he can think clearly. Jasper Hale.. has never been in love before, he doesn't know how to handle these feelings. Reading from books is where he learned of love, but he's never experienced before. He thought it was simple, just from reading it but experiencing foreign feelings scares him."

"I see."

I had began to relax into his touch, getting comfortable as we watched the sun set beyond the trees until he turned me around to face him. He was staring down at me so intensely I began to squirm, my heart beating fast once again that night. He tilted my chin up with two fingers when I tried to lower my head. I was trembling in his hold, afraid yet excited. He started to lower his head and I instantly closed my eyes, puckering my lips a little.

The first contact of his lips touching mine sent a jolt of electricity down my spine and I gasped, turning my head away. I could sense his disappointment and I felt bad. Slowly I turned my head back to look up at him and couldn't help but chuckle. He was pouting while trying not to look like a kicked puppy. Getting over my nervousness, I stood on my tippy-toes and placed my lips on his. He froze for a second before returning the same pressure applied.

It was a sweet, chaste kiss until he ran his tongue along the bottom of my lip. I gasped again and turned away from him. Kissing him have gave me such pleasant vibes, I wanted more but that last move made me realise that I was actually kissing a prince. A prince just doesn't go kissing random people. Well they may bring random girls to warm their beds but it just didn't feel real to be kissing one.

"Bella.. " He breathed right next to my ear and I shivered.

"Where's Jasper?" I suddenly asked and when Edward sighed and pulled back, I knew I had ruined the moment.

"Why are you asking that, of all things, and now?"

"Well, I haven't spoken to him for awhile and was wondering what he was up to."

"He went back to Earth to continue his mission." I froze for a moment before whirling around to face Edward with wide eyes.

"You sent him back?"

"I offered for him to work around the palace or village but he insisted on going back, saying he didn't want to fail on this mission."

"That.. that coward!" I roared and dashed by the prince and through the doors of the palace, going straight for my destination. The Phaze Portal.

If he thinks he can just run and hide as simple as that, he's got another thing coming.

. . .

A/N: Another chapter! Sorry for not updating quicker, I've recently got addicted to a game, I'm so-so-so-so in loooove.

Short, yes. BUT! Now you know where Roaslie And Emmett are now!

Bottledcoke


	13. Chapter 13

One Winged Angel

Jukebox: It was Written by Damian Marley

Chapter 13: Beautiful World.

. . .

Bella's P.o.V

. . .

I ran through the now less crowded halls, cheating a little by sending small bursts of magic to the soles of my feet to bring more speed. The butlers and maids wisely dived out of the way and I made a mental note to apologize for my brash behavior later on. But right now that coward, Jasper, was on my mind. Just the thought of him ditching Alice and his feelings made me angry.

In no time I was running up the golden stairs to the Phaze Portal. I took two steps at a time, sometimes risking three. Ignoring the wary stares of the citizens, I bent my knees, sent some more magic to my feet and sprang forward to the mirror. I held my breath, waiting for the blackness to engulf me.

What I did not expect was to hit a shield and get thrown back all the way to the ground. I was too surprised to even brother trying to stop the fall somehow and I landed on my back, painfully. There was cracking, crunching noises, with the wind knocked out of me, I could not breathe.

I stared wide eyed up at the mirror, mouth hanging open while trying to gasp in some air but it wasn't working. My brain had began to numb before I felt the pain. The citizens were screaming and running around.

"Bella, Bella. When will you learn?" I heard Edward sigh before he came in my view, standing above me.

With a frown he got down on his knees beside me and hovered his hand over my chest and a green light surrounded his hand. In seconds, I was able to breathe calmly but I still couldn't bare to move. He then brought his thumb below my nose, wiped and showed me the blood.

"You hit your head pretty hard. That was foolish of you while you're still recovering."

"You never told me about the shield." I hissed through gritted teeth.

"I thought you would be able to sense it. You should have been able to sense all different kinds of shields with the way you're training right now. Do you know which one you hit?" I blinked for awhile, remembering that I was taught of the different kind of shields people put up.

"A.. paralyzer shield?"

"Correct. That would explain why you couldn't breathe awhile ago and why you can't move now. Tell me, if no one was around and you did that, what would happen?"

".. I would die."

"That's right. So let this be a lesson to you not to be rash in your decisions and think things through first. If someone from this town died on the battle field, you would probably be blinded by rage and go in the middle of it all."

I didn't argue with him there because he was right. A lot of the times I don't think things through or about the consequences.

"If that's a paralyzer, then how can I still talk?"

"It's used for enemies. We need to them talk but we don't want them moving. And it's our choice if we want them to breathe or not. That shield is rarely used for anything else other than protecting the Phaze Portal."

"I see." It looked like I would need to read more up on shields than planned.

We said nothing more as Edward worked on taking my limbs out of paralysis. It felt strange to feel the little shocks and electrical currents zigzag through my system and then through my pores. While he worked, I thought about my actions and he seemed to read my thoughts.

"I put a barrier on it to give Jasper time."

"Time.. "

"Yes. He's new to this kind of thing. He'll come back sooner or later. I doubt he'll be able to focus on his mission after his covers been blown. And I knew you'd take things into your hands and possibly beat him into submission and drag him back." He chuckled at this and I frowned, thinking the situation is anything but funny. "I know you care about your sisters feelings but you'll have to care about the other persons feelings too."

"I know.. it's just.. I don't know. When we asked what he would do when he moved to a new school, he told us that he would just erase out memories of him, as if it was nothing."

"But don't you find it alarming to know that you've only known him for almost a year? That the memories he gave you were fake?" I frowned again, not knowing what to think. "How long did Alice say she has loved Jasper?"

"Uhm.. ever since they were.. kids.. "

"After finding out about the memories being fake, did you also think that her feelings are fake, too? Because of those memories, you two are made to believe you've known him longer when in reality, that's not the case. So these memories are fooling with her feelings for Jasper. Take those memories away and say Jasper picked another group of people to hang out with, would Alice still like him then?"

"I don't know. If we only knew him as the new guy, then it would be whatever, we get new kids all the time. But there could have been a chance that Alice would be attracted to him, or they could have became friends some way or another.. I don't know.. "

"Jasper told me he thinks it's best to wipe both your memories clean and start all over, to have Alice gain _real_ feelings instead of using what she believes from fake memories."

"And if we don't consent to it?"

"Before, that would not have been an option for you two, but now.. "

"But now that you know we have magic powers, we have a right to decide."

"Yes. Even if I am prince, there is a limit to what magic I can use."

At that, I held up my wrists, which still had the black rings tattooed to them, and raised a single brow. He chuckled.

"Oh well, one day we'll arrange for them to be removed."

"But don't you like to have the power of having me at your beck and call?" The thought did intrigue me.

"Perhaps. I could always summon you to do my homework, or maybe have you do my laundry."

"Charming." He snorted.

After a few more minutes, I was able to move my limbs. Warily, I got into a sitting position, holding back a pain filled groan. Edward had moved behind me, still crouching and began to lift my shirt. I squeaked and instantly pulled it down, turning my head to the side to shoot him a glare.

"You know, if you wanted to put a move on me, at least wait until we're back into the safety of your home."

"My apologies." There was a playful smile on his lips. "I just need to check out the wounds on your back. Currently there is blood soaking through your shirt so I assumed you've opened some cuts."

"Oh, great." This time I allowed myself to groan. "Can we just check them back inside? I don't really want people looking.. "I motioned to the growing crowd who watched on curiously.

"Sure thing." He carefully picked me up, bridal style, and held me close.

"Wha.. !"

After whispering words in an unknown language, there was a blinding white light for a moment before it died down. We were back inside the palace, inside my temporary bedroom. Edward carried me towards my bed and settled me down gently.

"Thanks." I muttered, still embarrassed to be carried like that. It wasn't like I was a princess or something, but it felt sort of nice, if not lame.

"You can turn your back to me while you take your top off and I'll look for a clean shirt for you to wear."

"You're almost like a nanny."

"Very funny. I'm trying to be nice."

"I know, and I'm thankful. But being a mother hen, when you know not what to do, is really amusing."

"Hn. Then I'll allow you to choose your own clothing after I tend to you."

I smiled before scooting close to the edge of the bed, back facing Edward, and slipped off my slightly blood soaked shirt. A moment later felt cool hands touching my back, rubbing in awkward circles. Soon enough, I felt a cooling sensation overtake the throbbing pain and let out a sigh of relief. My muscles began to relax as I felt the wounds being repaired once again and I closed my eyes, content.

"Huh.. that's strange." I heard him say more to himself than me.

"Hmm?"

"There's this single scar line on your shoulder blade. I tried healing it but it's not going away."

"Oh, that? I've had that since I was young."

"Really? I thought it was a recent wound."

"Nah. My dad told me that when my mom was alive, we would always go on family walks. One day we were walking across a bridge and I tripped over the edge. The fall wasn't far since the bridge wasn't huge but I did hit some rocks at the bottom, and one left a huge gash on my shoulder blade."

"Sounds and looks like it was nasty."

"It probably was. I don't remember it at all, since I was small, so it doesn't bother me much. If you look closely to my lower back, you'll see other scars that are barely noticeably."

"I see."

It was silent after that and I focused once again on the soothing fingers ghosting and probing my bruised skin. Edward began to hum a tune I haven't heard before and it put me more at ease. Slowly, I felt my mind begin to drift off, my shoulders slumping forward for a second before I snapped back up, blinking furiously.

"Tired?" He asked, stopping his actions.

"No, not really. Your hands could be ultimate weapons that can put people to sleep." I lightly teased and earned myself a chuckle.

"Really? I can think of some other things my hands could do." And with that, he placed one hand lightly on my side, stroking up and down while the other went to the base of my neck, playing with the sensitive nerves there.

"A-ah!" I let out a half sigh, half gasp. I didn't know weather to laugh at the nerves that tickled or moan in content,

"How does that feel?"

"Mhmm.. "I mumbled lazily, enjoying the little chills that ran up my arms. He chuckled again before wrapping his around around my midsection and resting his head on my shoulder.

"Tomorrow, ninety-five percent of the palace and village should be patched up. The day after, everything will be back to normal, everyone will go on with their business."

"Does that mean I have to meet up with the instructor tomorrow?"

"Yes. I will inform him of your.. lack of memory about shields. I'm sure he'll just be peachy to know that his hard earned lessons were forgotten in the heat of the moment."

"Hey, now," I frowned and looked at him from the corner of my eye, only to spot a playful smile on his face.

"You'll need to take the lessons more seriously, Bella. What if that had been an enemy trap? You could have been killed, or worse.."

"Tortured." I finished for him with a sigh. "Maybe we could extend my lessons?"

"We'll try that, for a few days, to see if your skills improve. You'll still have to attended regular classes but I guess we can bump that to evenings."

"Looks like I'll be busy every moment of the day." I replied with a slight distaste at the thought of working non-stop.

"It could be worse."

"How so?"

"My dad, the king, only gets three or four hours of sleep."

"What?"

"Mhmm," He hummed, finally sitting on the bed and pulling me until my back hit his chest. "As the king, he has many things to look over, too many responsibilities. Of course he has a court and council to help ease these duties but there is still many. Managing a kingdom isn't exactly easy. A few times he has asked me to take over for a few days while he puts himself into a coma to regain strength."

"Wow.. "

It was shocking to hear how hard a king had to work. In fairy tales, the king was relaxed while everyone did everything for him. Welcome to reality, Bella.

"But he enjoys what he does, so that makes it worth while for him."

"That's good." I commented, unsure of what else to say. A thought had been bugging me since our chat at the Phaze Portal so I decided to voice it. "You said.. if we take away the memories, Alice wouldn't feel nothing towards Jasper?"

"That is correct. But if her feelings are true, even for the short amount of time she's known Jasper, then she'll feel depression. Like a heart break. She won't know why, but she'll go through depression because love leaves a strong impression, not even magic could completely remove it. But she would heal, like all wounds. It might leave a scar later on but she would heal."

"Oh."

"Why?"

"Just wondering. In case she thinks that the pain is too much to handle that she'll want her memories removed but she won't be able to escape the pain."

"Mhmm. I'm sure she'll want to keep her memories. She doesn't seem like the type to just drop and give up." That caused me to smirk.

"You got that right. She's tougher than she looks but she'll need time to recover."

I pulled back down my shirt, a light blush on my cheeks when I had forgotten about it. Edward let out a husky laugh and started to place butterfly kissing around the back of my neck, sending pleasant shivers up and down my spine. I didn't want to think anymore and turned around in my seat and planted my lips firmly on Edwards, much to his surprise, but he didn't push me away. Instead, he responded eagerly to my own actions.

. . .

When I awoke the next morning in the arms of a certain prince, I was shocked and wondered what came over me last night. Sure, I have been dying to kiss him for awhile but I've been hiding those feeling so well but when he was being so tender and playful, I couldn't help myself. I was glad to see that our clothes were still on. Sleeping together was a bad enough scandal as it is and I didn't want gossiping maids to catch sight of it. If one see's us, by the end of the day I wouldn't be surprised to hear that I'm actually a princess from a far away country, come to accept Edward's hand in marriage. I've been here long enough to know how out of hand gossiping maids could be.

I made a move to get up but felt the arms around my waist tighten their hold. Struggling to turn to face Edward, I noticed his eyes were still closed but there was a small smile on his face.

"Good morning," He whispered.

"Morning," I replied, taking in all the details on his face, frowning when I noticed how neat his eye brows looked. It was about time I got my plucked or waxed..

"Slept good?"

"I did, the dreamless sleep was very welcomed."

"I'm glad."

"And you?"

"One of the most pleasant nights of my life. It feels better waking up to your lovely face than to an old grouchy maid." He finally opened his eyes and I saw the mirth in them. I couldn't help but laugh lightly.

"You're very charming."

"One of my many traits."

"And a goof."

"I try." I laughed again and lightly swatted his head.

"As much as I love laying here, I've got to get up and get ready to meet the instructor."

"I could always make this a day off?" It was more of a question than a statement, which meant he was asking me for my approval. It stunned me a little yet I felt a swell of happiness at the thought.

"Sounds tempting, but I think it would be better to take in all the information I can, especially about _shields_."

"Very responsible." He smiled proudly at me before placing chaste kiss on my forehead and releasing me.

I went over to the dresser, grabbed a plain white shirt and grey flannel pants before heading over to my private bathroom for a shower. I didn't bother taking my time this morning, knowing I was going to be late either way and ten minutes later, got out of the shower and into the new clothes. When I entered my bedroom, Edward was no where to be seen and I sighed with relief. If he was still lounging in bed, I would have told him that a day off sounded perfectly now. He was a tempting man, that was for sure.

For most of the morning, I had to sit on my legs and listen to the instructor's lecture about forgetting shields and spells in general. I grit my teeth through the whole thing and sucked it up, ignoring the numbness building in my legs, knowing this was my punishment. Of course Edward would stay true to his word and rat me out. I bet he was looking out through a window right now, laughing at my misery.

. . .

Edward's P.o.V

. . .

I couldn't help but chuckle when another scowl appeared on Bella's face when the instructor snapped at her to sit up straighter. I turned my attention from the window once again to look over at the other sister, Alice, who was sitting at the family dining table. One of the maids had finally coaxed her into coming out of the room to get fresh air and eat something. So far, she was pushing around the fruits on her plate, staring blankly at the brown creamy wall across the room.

With one last glance out the window, I pushed away from the wall and headed towards the dining table, settling myself down by the broken girl.

"Alice, you should really try eating something, you'll worry Bella." I saw something flicker in her eyes at the mention of her sisters name but it died down just as quickly as it came. "Would you like me to erase your memories?" That got her attention. Her head snapped towards me, her expression vivid.

"Does everyone enjoy torturing me? I want to keep my memories, thank you very much!"

"Even the fake memories?"

".. "

"If I were to delete the fake memories and allow you to keep the real memories you've had with Jasper for less than a year, would that make you happier?"

"Would it make a difference?" She asked bitterly, turning her attention back to the forgotten fruit on her plate.

"No, it wouldn't. If I erased Jasper from your memories completely, if your feelings are true, you'd still feel hurt now. You wouldn't know why but you would heal without anything holding you back."

".. " I could tell she was thinking the idea over as she blinked unshed tears back, her breathing was heavy. Before I could say anything else, a member from the kings council walked in with one of the many oddly shaped mirrors in his hand.

"M'lord, Sir Jasper is requesting to speak with you."

I glanced over to Alice, who looked more alert at the sound of Jasper's name, but also heavily guarded.

"Alice, if you wish, you could leave the room until I'm done talking?"

"No.. I want to stay." She wants to see him.

"Very well." I took the mirror from the members hands, who bowed deeply and left the room.

I used a little bit of magic to allow the mirror to float in front of Alice and I, in the middle of the table. The mirror had turned into a multicoloured haze before Jasper flickered into view. Alice couldn't stop the gasp that escaped her and I saw Jasper's gaze slide over to her, his eyes widening before looking back at me, his eyes slightly hallow.

"Forgive me, m'lord, I didn't know you had company."

"It's quite alright, she wished to be in the room. Now, is there anything to report? It is surprisingly that you'd news so soon after leaving." I commented and Jasper nodded, grabbing a thin magical glass that he carried with him every where, and read what he had written down.

"Things on Earth are getting worse. More earthquakes, thunderstorms, tsunamis, supposedly all 'natural disasters' all over the world are happening. I also found out that when I returned to the kingdom, there was a eleven hour earthquake all around the world."

"What?" I gasped and rose from my seat as the information sunk in.

"Yes, it came quite a shock to me too," He murmured before continuing. "There has been reportedly a lot of deaths and everyone is running out of fresh water, food and medical supplies."

"Dammit! If we don't find what we're looking for, the dark magic users will soon self destruct the planet Earth before moving on to another planet."

"S-self destruct?" Alice whispered and I nodded while running a hand through my hair. "But.. but you guys can do something, right? You can use magic to help our planet and the people, right?"

"Sweet Alice," Jasper smiled sadly, finally speaking to her for the first time since this mirror connection started. "You are so pure, I don't deserve you."

"What are you.. " Her face began to turn red in anger. "You coward!" She picked up the fruit from her plate and threw it towards the mirror. To her surprise, it went right through and hit him in the face. First she looked shocked, then she began to laugh, feeling a little bit better.

"I'm glad that amuses you.. "Jasper spoke in a deadpanned voice, not amused with wiping his face. He was going to have to take another shower so he wouldn't be sticky for the rest of the day. "But I did not mean to offend you in any way. We wish to help, but it isn't that simple. Dark magic users are building their army, thousands join them every day. They even recruit normal humans and force their ways onto them. We can try to help but it would go to waste when they attack again.

We do have a few guards stationed around the world to help protect as many people as they can without giving away what they are but that can prove to be impossible, especially in a busy city like New York. So until our search is completed, there isn't much we can do."

She said nothing and only stared hopelessly at Jasper. He coughed nervously before turning his attention back to me.

"I have already altered everyone's memories at the school. All they've known me for is to be a loner and that I've transferred to another school on the other side of town. I'll be continuing my search there. Since people are panicking and there'll be large crowds, I should be able to sense magic easily."

"Very well," I nodded to him, approving. "Make sure to get in touch with the guards around that section and ask if they have seen anything unusual."

"Yes, m'lord. Good day to you. And.. a good day to you too, Miss Alice." And before the poor girl could respond, the line cut short, turning back into a 'regular' mirror.

"Please don't think Jasper as rude for that. I knew for the moment he saw you, he wanted to cut all connections and request for me to talk to him alone. He's just as confused and hurt as you are."

"I understand." She whispered, her gaze casted downwards. Then she surprised me by grabbing a piece of bread from her plate and started to nibble on it.

It wasn't much but at least it was a start.

. . .

A/N: Thank you to the Anonymous reviewer for reminding me that I neglected this story. Sorry everyone!

I wrote this quickly at work. And since I still had plenty of time left, I also finished chapter 14, so I'll put that up in a few days!

Bottledcoke


	14. Chapter 14

One Winged Angel

Jukebox: I Believe In A Thing Called Love by The Darkness

Chapter 14: Green.

. . .

Bella's P.o.V

. . .

Two weeks had passes since my outrageous schedule. I was busy every minute of the day and I was barely getting my full eight hours of sleep. I began to think this was how the king felt but he was probably used to this and much more so I didn't complain once. Every morning, for an hour and a half, the instructor had drilled into my head the information about shields. I had it completely memorised after the first week but he continued, still believing I was a complete dolt to forget things easily. All of this training and memorising made me think that studying back on earth was a walk in the park.

After that one night with Edward, we had slowly become closer. Whenever we were in a meeting, I would take a seat by his and he would unconsciously brush his hand against mine. He may have not noticed but I did since every touch from him caused that spot to grow warm and tingly.

Another thing I noticed was Alice. She had began to eat normally again after a few days and even started to joke about our situation. I knew she was forcing herself for my sake but I knew it was part of the healing process. It seemed like she had accepted the fact that Jasper couldn't act on his feelings with the way things were going on with the worlds so she was going to wait until everything settled down peacefully, if it ever does.

Today was a day off for me, luckily. I spent my morning sleeping in, shooing away every maid that came to wake me up. Those pestering women just don't know how to give up. I finally woke up at noon when one of the old women summoned for their prince. His mere presence instantly woke me. I had give him a lazy smile and he tried to hide his laughter but it didn't work. I finally got up to look in the mirror to see what was so funny and was horrified to see that my hair was in a bush and in a mass of tangles. I instantly chased the too amused prince from my room to fix myself up.

After detangling my hair, with the help of magic, I noticed that it now had passed my butt.

"Too long.. " I mused and used magic to cut it back tot he shoulder length I'm used to. With the cut hair tied to an elastic, I made a mental note to put this away until I get back to Earth so I could donate it to cancer patients.

From there, I took a refreshing shower and put on a dark green sundress with plain white sandals and decided to spend some time int he village. I wanted to enjoy the freedom I have today before being stuck in the palace for another long week.

The village was lively as ever and people seemed to have gotten over the attack that happened almost three weeks ago. Every day since then, I've received gifts as thanks, even some personal visits from the citizens to express their gratitude. It alone made me happy that these people even acknowledged me now since in the beginning they had feared me.

But now that's changed.

Whenever I browse the market, people would come up to me and give me a gift from their stall, ranging from exotic foods, to clothes, to little neat trinkets. Although I would have refused any gift, Edward had told me accepting them would make them even more pleased, for if I refuse, the people will think that you're too good enough for their goods and that saving their lives meant nothing. From there on, I plastered a smile onto my face and greeted people wholeheartedly, thanking them for the wonderful things they give.

While looking at some beautiful hand made necklaces, I spotted a familiar shag of black hair at one of the trinket stands. Relief, as well as happiness exploded within me and I jogged on over to him, jumping onto his back.

"Boo!" I yelled and was glad to see him fluster around, surprised.

"Ack!" I laughed and released my hold so he could face me.

"Bella? You're okay!" Jacob smiled widely at me while looking over my appearance, looking for any damage.

"Of course I'm okay, something like that isn't gonna kill me." I snorted and gave him a glance over. "I was worried about you, though. I haven't seen you since that explosion. I almost believed you've died or been kidnapped or something."

"Psh, something like that isn't gonna kill me." He mocked and I frowned. "Okay, sorry, sorry, I know you were worried about me. After the attack, I went to go help in battle and I got wounded a bit and headed back to my hometown to heal up. I came back last week but I haven't seen you around so I assumed.. "

"Oh, I wish I knew how I could get into contact with you. I've been busy with studying and whatnot. Today just happened to be a day off for me so I wanted to spend it wisely."

"Are you learning a lot?"

"I am. Everything here fascinates me."

"Fascinates you? Hah, you're funny. Aren't you from the Raz' race? I thought they were a smart bunch?"

"Err, well, I just happened to be a slow learner. I've been sheltered most of my life." Which was true. Except that I wasn't even from this planet. I just don't think I should tell him I original came through the mirror yet.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." He frowned before sliding his arm over my shoulders, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. And it felt like it was. "Come! Let's browse the market, I'll buy you a gift."

"What? No, no, save your money!"

"Nonsense. I haven't seen you in a long time, and I've been _grieving _that perhaps your life has been lost." I noticed the sarcasm in his voice and jabbed him lightly the ribs.

"Oh yes, I saw your grief stricken expression while you were drooling everything in the trinket section." We laughed and it felt so good to feel the stress melt away.

We walked through many of the market sections, with Jacob asking if I like this or that at every single item I looked at. He seemed to figure out that I was trying to avoid receiving a gift from him so he threatened that he would get me the most ugly thing here unless I picked something out. We stopped at the necklace stand I was looking at earlier before seeing him and I pointed to a necklace that caught my interest.

It was a silver chain with a red orb dangling from it, small than my thumb nail and Jacob bought it on the spot. He then pleaded to put it on me himself and I joked that his puppy eyes was going to win my heart some day but allowed him to do what he wanted. After clasping it at the back of my neck, he fisted the red orb and there was small crackling sounds around it.

"What are you.. " He hushed me and I waited, confused. After a few moments he opened his hand and the red orb had somehow looked brighter, more lively than before.

"I infused my magic with it, so if you ever need me, you just need to hold this to your lips, whisper my name and I'll be there."

"Oh.. so you don't need to brand me like this," I showed him my wrist. "You can just put your magic into an object and it's done?"

"Of course. Branding a person is a much more powerful thing. You certainly can't lose your wrists, unless they were chopped off. But objects can be misplaced easily."

"Great." I grumbled but didn't bother voicing my thoughts. If Edward had given me an object instead of branding me that day, I would have thrown it away. So it was probably best he did that but it still made me itch.

"The day is not over yet. Come, let's have supper."

"Is it that late already?" I glanced up and sure enough, it was starting to get darker.

"Is there somewhere you need to be?" He frowned and I quickly shook my head.

"No, it's just that time went by so fast."

"Time flies when you're having fun. I assumed you had fun, right?"

"I did, really." I sent him a sheepish smile at his flattering grin.

He took me to an expensive looking place where people were dressed in formal clothes. Well, probably formal for them. I would have felt out of place if it wasn't for Jacob here to joke about them.

Dinner was lovely. And fulfilling. I had ordered some food whose name I couldn't pronounce but it was one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted. I had ordered Foam Sugar Sugar Blast before leaving and Jacob had watched in surprise and amusement while I inhaled the whole glass.

"Ahh, refreshed!" I could literally feel my magic intensify. "Now I should be able to work ever harder in my studies."

"I'm glad. "Once you're done learning all you need to know, maybe you can travel with me to different countries, kingdoms."

"Humm, maybe." I didn't want to lead him on because I didn't know exactly how long I would need to be here.

"Miss Bella," A emotionless voice spoke ahead of me and I tried squinting through the darkness to see who it was.

"Yes?" It was one of Edward's guards.

"The prince is close to sending out search parties, he has been wondering where you've been all day."

At first I blinked then frowned deeply. I didn't know whether to feel happy that he's been wondering where I am or angry that I can't do anything the whole day without having him send someone out to check up or look at for me. It wasn't like I was a baby or anything.

"I see. Well I'll head back to the palace now."

"I'll escort you." Jacob offered and I was ready to accept until the guard held up a firm hand to stop Jacob from moving forward.

"I've been requested to escort you back if I have spotted you so that will save your friend some trouble."

"It's no trouble at all, sir." Jacob waved him off half-heartedly but I knew he wanted to hang out some more. "Well, Bella. This is where I bid you a good night. I had a really good time today." And without warning, and reached forward and placed a kiss on my cheek before turning around and sprinting off. I stared, in shock and embarrassment.

I hadn't expected it at all and really didn't know what to think of the kiss. I wanted to believe that he did it out of friendship, wishing it was normal here but another part thought that maybe he likes me. I risked a glance at the guard. I couldn't see most of his face but I did see the disapproving frown on his face. With a sigh, I turned in the other direction and allowed him to lead me back to the palace.

Once passing though the palace doors, a middle aged butler had greeted us and said he was expecting me. He bowed to the guard before guiding me down a couple halls, a few stairways until we reached two large stone marble doors. After a sharp knock on the door, we heard a murmured 'Come in', before opening up. The butler urged me inside, _alone_, before closing the door behind me.

I found myself standing in front of Edward's desk and suddenly felt nervous. He hadn't looked at me since I came in and kept looking over papers, signing here and there.

After a few more minutes of silent torture, he turned his gaze to me, his expression unreadable.

"How was your day?" He asked softly.

"It was enjoyable."

"Really?" I bit my lip when I noticed a lining of hurt under his words.

"What's wrong?" I couldn't help but ask before it begin to eat away at me.

"Rumors, that's whats wrong."

"Rumors?"

"Yes. A lot have claimed to see you with a young man in the market today."

"Oh, yeah. He's the friend who taught me some magic. I was so glad to know that he was alive."

"And I'm glad to know he's alive, too."

".. And?"

"Everyone believes that you and your.. 'friend', are a couple. Some even claimed that he bought you jewellery." Unconsciously my hand lifted to the necklace. Edward noticed this and his eyes narrowed. "So it's true."

"He wanted to apologize for disappearing after the attack. I tried to refuse but he didn't take 'no' for an answer."

"You two even had a lovely dinner together." I winced.

"Jeez, news does travel fast."

"Bella," He sighed and got up. For a moment, I thought he was going to open the door and tell me show myself out but instead he rounded the desk and stood in front of me.

His hand lifted to the necklace, probing at the little orb and I restrained myself from grabbing it protectively. I saw the necklace as a way of saying 'This is our friendship line, call me whenever and I'll be there' kind of thing. Like how friends would tell their friends "I'll always be here for you", in this case, Jacob meant it literally. And so did Edward. He eyed it awhile longer before lifting his gaze to mine.

"He's branded it."

"In a much simpler way, yes."

".. "

"I like your brandings, too." I tried assuring him, lifting up my wrists. "It took awhile to get used to them but I'm thankful they're there."

His finger left the necklace alone to trace my jawline. I felt my face grow hot under his touch and without thinking, I closed my eyes and leaned into his hand, which cupped my check. I let out a sigh and lightly

grabbed his wrist, slightly afraid he would pull back but instead his other hand rested on the small of my back and pulled me flush against him. I instantly wrapped my arms around his torso and nuzzled my face into his chest.

"I'm sorry, Bella." He whispered, which I had no clue why but I decided to whisper back.

"For what?"

"For feeling this way."

"Hmm?"

"I just.. I never felt like this before. When I heard you were in town with another guy, that he bought you jewlery _and_ bought you dinner? I felt this.. rage inside of me. I also felt sadness and betrayed. I would have went nuts if my dad didn't order me to do paper work to keep my mind clear. It worked for awhile but I was so worried." I blinked. And again. And again.

He was jealous that I was out with another guy other than him.

"Edward, do you like me?" I asked bluntly, blushing at my boldness.

"I.. " I could tell he was struggling with words. It made me wonder if he was ever in love before. "I just don't know what to feel. When I first met you, I thought you'd be an intriguing person to study, someone who didn't know about magic, until I learned you were from Earth. Then I began to see past your.. awkwardness and notice your personality, your quirks, the little flaws. I get fascinated when I see your expressions change in seconds, I liked the way a blush would appear on your cheeks when I said something to cause it, and I loved the way you would smile at me.

I got used to having you around, it almost felt natural. I started to realise these feelings after that night we spent together. I felt a swell of joy when I had woken up with you in my arms, I didn't want to let you go and sometimes I just felt like locking you up so no one else could look at you."

He just started to spill out his feelings for me and I looked up at his, fascinated by the emotion he talked with. Except the part about locking me up scared me a little but I embraced it all.

"I sometimes, too, feel the same way. Like, when I'm around you, I'm relaxed, comfortable. When you're gone, I'm a little lonely and wondering where you are, what you're up to. Of course I don't want to act on my feelings because I didn't know how you felt about me. You're a prince, there's got to be countless of girls you've been with. I like you a lot, Edward, but is it enough?"

"Truth be told, I've never been in a relationship before. I've read romance novels and it all seemed so simple but it's far from understanding. There have been many girls who volunteered to warm my bed but I've been brought up more properly than that. And what to do you mean, 'is it enough'?"

"I mean.. look at me." I stepped back to let him look me up and down. After a minute, his brow furrowed and he shrugged. I rolled my eyes and sighed. "I'm basically a commoner, maybe a little more than that since I'm oh, so magical. And you're a prince. Aren't you suppose to be marrying princesses or someone.. royal enough?"

"Love is love, Bella."

"That's true but we don't love each other. I love you like a friend, but I like you romantically."

"I feel the same way. But after liking someone, comes love, isn't that correct?"

"Well.. I guess." After all, this could just be a fleeting thing. Another girl could come along and snag his attention, just as simply as her snagged her's.

"We've got the time, Bella. I don't mind working at this with you. I know my dad would understand, he always believed in doing what your heart tells you to do. Plus, he adores you." He added cheekily and I couldn't help but chuckle. This conversation was making my heart pound in my chest.

"I can work at that. We can go at our own pace, together, instead of alone."

"Agreed. I just wish I could meet your father so I can properly ask him if he'll allow me to court you."

"Court me?" I couldn't help but snort at that old fashioned saying before all amusement was wiped from my face. "Oh my God!"

"What? What is it?" He asked, suddenly worried.

"My dad! I completely forgot about him back on Earth! Edward can you take the barrier down while I bring Alice back with me? I'll be sure to summon you when I'm ready to come back." He looked a little hurt and I felt it too. So soon after confessing such feelings to each other, I had to take off to see my dad. But he knew it was important to me and nodded.

"Of course I'll do that." He cupped my face and leaned down to give me a kiss. Automatically I shut my eyes and felt his lips on mine. It was a short, sweet kiss but it made me hot all over. All too soon, it was over and he disappeared with a playful smile on his face.

I dashed from the room and started jogging up a flight of stairs and down the hall until I reached Alice's room. Without bothering to knock on the door, I barged in, spotting her on the bed, reading through a large text book.

"Oh, Bella, where have you been all day? And you should knock, you know, it's polite. What if I was in the middle of undressing." She lightly scolded but closed her book and gave me her full attention..

"Charlie." Was all I had to say before her eyes widened.

"Dammit! I forgot about dad!" I grabbed her hand and started to pull her out of the room.

"Come on! I'm getting Edward to open up the Phaze Portal for us so we can go over.

We wasted no more time talking and ran the whole way to where Edward was waiting for us. He was at the very top of the golden stairs, waiting for us. I let Alice go ahead of me, hot on her heels. When we reached the top, and greeted Edward with a quick 'hello'.

"So it's safe to go through now, right?" She asked, just to make sure.

"Yes, I've temporarily disabled the barrier for five minutes. After you've gone through, it'll close and the only way you'll be able to come back is by Bella summoning me." At that, Alice glanced to my wrists and gave me a smug, knowing smile.

"Alrighty, then. I'll go ahead. See you on the other side, Bella!" I watched at Alice concentrated on sending her magic to her feet before leaping up, disappearing through the mirror.

"I'll be waiting." I turned to Edward and saw his serious expression. He wanted to say much more but I know it all just from the intensity in his eyes.

"I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too."

One more quick kiss and I jumped up, soaring through the darkness before landing roughly onto my floor. Alice was already standing, dusting off her long sleeved shirt and puffy pants before we heard the front door open and slam shut.

. . .

A/N: I hope the 'confession' doesn't confuse anyone. Basically, they like each other but they aren't exactly dating since either one has asked the other properly. All they know if how the other feels If anyone feels that the red, please tell me! I'll take down the chapter to re-write or perhaps make things go extra slow. Just watch, they'll fall in love at chapter fifty. (Sarcasm, I highly doubt I could carry on that long)

Bottledcoke


	15. Chapter 15

One Winged Angel

Jukebox: The Final Countdown by Europe

Chapter 15: Sandwiches are beautiful, sandwiches are fine. I love sandwiches, I eat them all the time. I eat them for my breakfast and I eat them for my lunch, if i had a hundred sandwiches, I'd eat them all at once!

. . .

Bella's P.o.V

. . .

"Alice? Bella? Anyone home?" We heard Charlie call from downstairs, along with a few things thumping to the ground we assumed to be his travel bags.

"Up here!" Alice called out without thinking. She then slapped a hand to her mouth and I shook my head while giving her a 'are you serious?' look.

"Why are all the lights off?"

"Uhm.. " Alice stood up and tried flipping the light switch on and off but nothing happened. "The power has been off since the earthquake and we were too scared to leave our rooms to do anything about it." My head snapped towards Alice and I gaped.

"Eleven hour earthquake? Why don't I know about this?" I whispered harshly.

"I was with Edward when he was having a.. 'calling' session with Jasper, when we were told what was happening. I guess he was too busy to tell you?" She whispered back, but more softly.

"And you couldn't tell me?"

"I thought he would!"

We heard heavy foot steps coming up the stairs and I dragged Alice over to the bed, huddling us under the blankets.

"Anything else I need to know?"

"Shortage on food and fresh water. A lot of natural disasters happening all around the world. Lots of food suddenly disappeared after the long earthquake so I suspect that perhaps people wielding dark magic is doing this."

"Ugh, that's just great." I groaned right before Charlie opened the door and rushed over to us.

"Oh, my baby girls!" He got down on his knees and slinged an arm around either of us, hugging tightly.

"It's okay, Charlie, I made sure we were safe."

"Bella, how many times have I told you to call me 'dad'?" He sighed but sounded relieve to know that we're both okay.

"We stayed here the whole time, occasionally going downstairs to get food. If you hadn't shown up by tonight, we would have went over to your digging site." Alice lied smoothly and I nodded.

"I was able to leave the dig site in time before everything collapsed. Although, some of us weren't quick enough.. " It was silent for a few moments before he pulled back and stood up. "I'll see what I can do about getting the power back on. You girls must be cold."

And with that, he dragged his feet out of the room and down the stairs, looking more tired than ever. Alice and I both know that Charlie had withdrawn from the living world since mom died and buried himself in work but he had made some friends while digging. Even if they never meet outside of work, they were people he could relax around without having to worry for awhile about how to raise two girls.

Alice was the first to move out from under the blanket and turned on my battery operated radio. She switched away from my favorite music station and turned to the local news station. There was loud static for a few seconds until she got it clear.

"_..eople who have lost their homes have been gathering to the main shopping mall while volunteers had been making soup, sandwiches and other warm hearty foods all day for those less lucky. There was been rumors flying left and right about exactly why this is happening. Older folks have been chanting that it's the end of the world, youngsters have been parading around saying that it's a zombie apocalypse while scientists have simply said that it's mother nature being upset with how we're treating the world.. zzt_."

"More like being a bitch." Alice sighed after shutting off the radio and placing it back where she found it. "But of course, none of those rumors are true. But magic.. " She held out her palm in front of her and concentrated hard. Within moments, a small light globe appeared in the middle, floating a inch above. "Y'know, sometimes it feels just like a dream, that I'm just going to wake up and everything will be back to normal."

"Heh," I couldn't help but scoff. "I thought like that too, when I first found out about magic and everything.. not normal. But it sinks in, I know it will. Let's just hope that's before the war happens, huh?" I gave a rueful smile and got up from the bed, stretching. "Oh boy."

"What?"

"These clothes," I gestured between us. "I'm surprised Charlie didn't comment on them."

"Maybe he thinks it's a new fashion?"

"But if he notices we're the only people wearing it.. "

"Then he'll assume we're visiting our second childhood!"

"Har, har, Alice, " I couldn't help but smile and head over to my dresser. "I'm going to change into normal clothes, you should do the same."

"Aww, but I like these clothes. They feel so weightless and soft."

"That's fine but we're most likely going to be leaving the house later. Maybe we can look for Jasper.. ?" I let it hang into a question, leaving it entirely up to Alice.

"Jasper?" She froze at the sound of his name, eyes narrowing. "I guess.. we could.. but I refuse to break down in front of him last time!" With a fiery resolve, she stomped her way out of my room and into her's. It was good to see that she grew a little stronger from the last time we were in front of Jasper.

I sifted through the clothing, that I once thought to be cool or cute, now looking boring and drag like compared to the beautiful silks in the other world. Ignoring the feeling the way my blue jeans and plain green cotton t-shirt would rub against my skin, I quickly brushed my hair and placed it into a messy pony tail, not caring for the few strands that fell loose to frame my face. I felt a shiver go down my spine, finally noticing how cold it really was in the house. It looked dark, gloomy, there was even layers of dust everywhere, like no one has lived here for months. I slipped on a white zip-up sweater, to warm up or feel more at home, I wasn't sure.

"Hey, Bella," Alice came out of her room wearing clothes similar to mine, except her navy blue sweater wasn't a zipper-up. "Do you feel like it's.. lonely in this house?"

"Yeah, I got that feeling too," I assured her and we walked down the stairs together, listening to Charlie talk on his cell phone.

When we got to the stairs, we saw him just as he plopped down onto the couch, oblivious to the dust that quickly rose in to the air. He tiredly rubbed his eyes while continuing to talk on the phone, making displeased grunts once in awhile. Alice sat down beside him, more gently so much dust wouldn't arise and I opted to walk around the living room, observing the place. Stopping in front of our glass cabinet, I took in the pictures in the frames. Charlie had put his most beloved memories in this cabinet so they wouldn't collect dust of get accidentally knocked out.

I squinted my eyes, observing the pictures in front of me. Something was missing, but what.. And then it clicked.

"Alice, come look at this picture," I pointed to a random photo and turned half way around to face her. She tilted her head to the side in confusion. "Just wanted to bring up memories from beneath the dust." And it finally clicked for her and she stood, making her way over to me.

"What's wrong?" She whispered. I gestured to the glass cabinet before us. "What? You really wanted to bring up memories?"

"No! Don't you notice anything?" She blinked and stared intently at the sight before her and sighed.

"I'm afraid not."

"Nothing in this house is broken."

".. "

"There was an eleven hour earthquake not too long ago and not a single thing is amiss in the house except for the dust."

"Oh my God.. " She covered her gasp by lightly smacking her hand over her mouth. "Do you think Jasper.. ?"

"I don't know. We just have to act normally as possible and hope Charlie doesn't notice anything." With a quick nod, Alice went to sit beside our father once again, leaning against his shoulder in comfort.

I walked to another glass cabinet that held all of Charlie's most prized finds. He kept this one locked, even though someone could easily smash the glass and take what they want. Despite trying to act normal, I couldn't help but pace around and fidget nervously. It wasn't until thirty minutes later that Charlie got off the phone with a gruff sigh.

"The power company is busy, so busy that they won't make it to our house for another two to three weeks. They said if we have food problems, we should head over to restaurants that are working or to the main mall because they're giving out food to those in need. If you two are hungry, we could head to either of those places?" He suggested but he looked too weary and gruffy to go out.

"Why don't you rest up first? You look tired." Alice stood up and looked at the battery powered clock on the wall. "It's only two o'clock right now. Bella and I could go out to see how are friends are faring off and we'll be back at six o'clock so we can grab something to eat."

"That sounds like a good plan, actually. Thanks for allowing this old man to get some rest." He sent a weary smile and headed towards the stairs. "Stay out of trouble and be safe. Love you, girls."

"Love you too, dad."

"Love you, Charlie."

A sigh and heavy foot steps were heard all the way up the stairs before Alice and I got on our shoes and made our way out of the house, locking the door behind us. We waited until we were down the street before breaking out into a run that was too fast for the human eyes. We did make a couple of mistakes of bumping into people but made sure to never linger so they couldn't see even a possible blur. Didn't need people crying out for Superman now, did we?

I silently thanked the wonderful foods filled with some magic that we had before coming back to Earth because by the time we reached Jasper's house, we weren't panting or breaking a sweat. But our clothes were pretty ruffled so we smoothed our shirts out before knocking on the white door. There was mild chatter inside before the door slid open, revealing a girl to be in her pre-teens. She sized us up before giving a snobby

sneer.

"May I help you?"

"Err, yes, uhm.. " I was at loss for words but Alice looked like she wanted to say a whole lot. Like.. what exactly was this little 'princess' doing in Jasper's place. "Is Jasper here?"

"Jasper? Who is that?"

"Doesn't he live here?" Alice asked, tilting her head to try to get a peak inside.

"No one by the name of 'Jasper' lives he- Hey! Stop trying to peek into the house! Mommy! Strange people!" She screeched, ready to run back inside while Alice and I were ready to ditch.

"Wait!" All three of us froze in place and looked behind us.

"Jasper.. "Alice whispered but he wasn't looking at us. He was staring at the little 'princess'.

"Tell me, sweetie, what is your name?" He began to advance on his, making sure to take slow, sure steps. She hesitated, glancing between the comfort of her home, us and him.

"M-Maria.. "

"Maria.. " Her name rolled off his tongue smoothly and he held up his hand, fingers spread. Soon a almost invisible blue glow surrounded his hand and his eyes glazed over. "Maria, it's me, your cousin Jasper. Your mother invited us over for sandwiches and she's allowing both of my friends, Alice and Bella, to come over to eat as well." His voice was like silk that even I almost felt entranced and believed him. he dropped his hand and the little girl, Maria, stood there, blinking. But a blinding smile spread across her face and she ran up to Jasper, hugging his midsection.

"Jaspey!"

"J-Jaspey?" Alice choked on air and patted her chest.

"Hmfp, bringing your friends over again, I see. You know I don't like them, especially that Alice girl, she takes all your attention from me."

"Err.. " I didn't even know what to say. He alternated her memories so she believed they were cousins but it seemed like she held some sort of crush for him. Which is kinda gross when you think about it.

"Now, now. Be a good girl and I'll treat you to some pie, okay?"

"Deal! Come inside now, before the sandwiches get stale! Mommy, Jaspey is here!"

"Jaspey?" Came a confused voice and Jasper went in quickly. We followed and saw he was also alternating the mothers memories too.

It looked all too simple, just some magic, a few smoothed words and the deal was done. Your memory has been tampered with. The way Alice scrunched up her face, I could see that she didn't exactly approve of this either. but perhaps below the surface, she wanted to cry. It just seemed too easy to tamper with peoples hearts.

"Jasper, it's been awhile since we've seen your face around here! Maria has been complaining about it lately."

"I'm sorry I don't stop by more often, school is keeping me pretty busy."

"Of course, dear. Now, where are your friends?"

"Right here!" I forced the cheerfulness out of me, plastering a fake smile on my face and stepping into the house, dragging Alice in with me.

It was a small but homey place, with many candles lit to lighten up the place while the power was out. The older woman had long black hair that was separated into two braids. Her eyes were a bright shining blue, crinkling slightly when she saw us.

"It's been so long since I saw you two! I must get Jasper to bring you guys over more often."

"Yes.. it's nice seeing you again," I answered, unsure of what to say but she only smiled politely, setting down a couple sandwiches.

"Dig in, kiddies!'

The lunch was extremely awkward. Just for Alice and myself. Jasper carried on a conversation with both the mother and child easily, as if he really did know them his whole life. When questions were directed towards either of us, we would give unclear answers and saw that Jasper had to tweak with her memories to work with our story. Maria didn't even acknowledge us in her presence.

After we finished our sandwiches, the mother looked as if to bring us into another round of questions but Jasper held his hand up, stopping her before she could speak.

"I wish we could stay longer, but we're going to check up on Charlie, supposedly he should be coming back from his dig site today."

"Oh my goodness! I heard about the collapse there, I was so worried. Give my regards to your father, girls."

"Sure thing!" Alice smiled a bit too sweetly for my tastes.

"You two go wait outside for me, I need to talk about something.. private."

I watched Alice snap her gaze to Jasper and he was staring right back her, facial expression blank. She dropped her smile completely, gave a childish sneer, turned on her heel and walked down the hall and out of the house. I quickly followed after, giving the mother and child a small wave. Once outside, I found Alice tugging her hair and I slapped her hands to make her stop but she only clutched tighter.

"That jerk! Changes their memories, makes us eat their food and now he's going to change them again to appear as she and Maria never knew we were there! Hit and run!" She let out a frustrated growl before letting her arms hang limply at her sides.

"Sorry, but it was the only thing I could think of so little Maria didn't go screaming. It would attract the neighbors attention and fooling with the memories is a tiring thing." Jasper rubbed his shoulders for effect, giving a tired sigh. "Let's leave the property before either of them look outside and notice strange kids hanging around the lot."

Things were still awkward when we left the house. Alice and I followed Jasper a few blocks away before he stood in front of an apartment building.

"This is where I'm staying now. I'm pretty sure I told you and Edward that I relocated once I came back."

"Slipped my mind," Alice mumbled, not looking him in the eyes.

"Well, come on in, we'll talk there."

We continued to follow Jasper into the well decorated building with a heavy, awkward, dark looming cloud of darkness following us. I just hope to dear God that one of them grow a pair and settle their feelings for each other.

. . .

A/N: Long time, no talk. No excuses, I'm a total lazebag. And this is a rather boring chapter, sorry. I hope the next one is better.

Bottledcoke.


	16. Chapter 16

One Winged Angel

Jukebox: Little Boxes - Malvina Reynolds

Chapter 16: Disgusting.

. . .

Bella's P.o.V

. . .

Tension. Tension. Tension. Awkward. Awkward. Awkward.

Once entering Jasper's apartment, he showed us to the living room, gesturing us to take a seat while he made some tea. After the tea was made, he sat on the couch opposite of us so now we were all just sipping our cinnamon tea, looking everywhere but at each other. A part of me wanted to try and pass gas, if I had any to pass, and hopefully that would break the ice or it would make things even more awkward. I'm voting for the latter. I remember when Mike farted when things got awkward between Jessica and I. We both thought it was disgusting but couldn't help but laugh. But he was a guy. But it couldn't hurt to try..

I grunted a bit, constricting my muscles a bit and forcing down. "Pffft!"

Alice and Jasper whipped their heads in my direction, either had wides eyes or furrowed brows.

".. Excuse me." I whispered quietly. Jasper cleared his throat and Alice looked away once again. That plan failed and I made myself look like a fool. great. "Okay, let's start talking before I go crazy in this deafening room."

"What is there to talk about?" Alice asked in a clipped tone.

"Don't be stubborn Alice, there's no time for that."

"I know," She sighed and turned her head back towards me.

"Jasper, how have you been?"

"I've been fair. Just a little bit of magic and I can light up my apartment or cook some food."

"Oh, right."

"But it would seem suspicious if my apartment was the only one that had power running into it so I've been blending in, as usual."

"Did you protect our house from the earthquake?" Alice asked, her gaze now on him. He looked startled for a moment but gained composure.

"Of course not. If Charlie were to come back home before you two, he'd notice that everything is the way he left it, nothing broken, so I didn't bother."

"But everything is in one piece. Nothing is broken, shattered of out of place."

"What?" He sat up straighter, brows furrowing.

"It's true," I nodded. "The only thing we found strange was the layers of dust. I know we've been gone for awhile but the layers were thick, it wasn't normal."

"That's strange.. way too strange. I highly doubt another magic user would pick your house at random to cast a protecting spell over."

"What do you think we should do?"

"I'm going to contact Edward through the mirror and ask him what he thinks. You two want to talk to him?" My thoughts suddenly flashed back to the recent 'confession' and I felt my face heat up. I quickly shook my head.

"No, we're good."

"Alright, I'll be in the other room, then. Make yourselves comfortable." After Jasper got up and left, Alice turned to me, her expression skeptical.

"He wants us to get comfortable while all this weird crap is happening around us?"

"I guess so." I gave her a shrug, suddenly feeling jittery.

"What's wrong with you?" She asked, noticing my fidgeting.

"I don't know, really." The thought of talking to Edward so soon sent butterflies through my system.

We were quiet for awhile before Alice got up tot inspect the pictures on the walls. There was no pictures of people, only art. It made us curious why he wouldn't carry a picture of someone from the other world, like Edward or someone. Well, if he had a picture of Edward on his wall and brought 'friends' over, they would think twice about Jasper and his sexuality. A small giggle escaped me and Alice finally turned around to face me, hands on hips.

"Are you high or something? You seem to be pretty giddy with all that is going on."

"Well.. "

"Spill it."

"Edward and I sort of.. confessed to each other?" Her expression softened, a wide smile replacing her frown.

"That's great, Bella! I sort of sensed something happening between you two! But, what do you mean 'sort of'?"

"Edward said he 'loved me' but I told him that I didn't know if I loved him. I like him but I don't know if it's enough to love. You know I don't believe in love at first sight, that's pure lust. It has to build on from liking someone and I'm in that process. He actually said he wanted to meet dad so he could properly ask to 'court me'."

"Court you? That's so old fashion!" Alice laughed, turning around to look at more pictures. 'But I'm happy for you, Bella."

I suddenly regret telling her. Because no matter how much she says she's happy for me, I know that there's jealousy, rage and sadness underneath the surface that my love life is going so well compared to her's. The urge to strangle Jasper appeared and it felt so nice to image his neck between my hands.

In that moment, Jasper walked in, taking in the awkward scene. From where he stood, I bet he could feel the rage and sadness in the room. He cleared his throat uncomfortably, getting our attention.

"Edward said he's glad you two are safe. I also told him about your house being protected, which he said he had no part of, and that we should just keep an eye out for now. He suggested we walk around, check things out here and there and ask any magic users we run into if they are the ones protecting your house."

"How will we know who's a magic user or not? I couldn't sense anybody when I came back." I commented, rising from my seat on the couch and heading towards the door.

"Perhaps you weren't looking hard enough, too freaked out about what was going on with yourself?'

"Oh, yeah.." I gave a nervous chuckle and left the apartment with Alice and Jasper behind me.

"We'll probably pass many people, so keep a look out."

"How are Bella and I suppose to look for something when we don't know what it is?"

"You'll see."

True to Jasper's word, we passed many people. Some were laughing at something their friends said, forcing themselves to be happy because of the situation but others didn't bother denying it, looking broken and depressed. It was hard being around these people, especially the ones crying. You could tell they lost someone very dear to them. It was forty-five minutes later that Alice gasped.

"Is that one there?"

"Where?" I quickly whipped my head around, looking for anyone standing out.

"There," She pointed across the street and I followed where he finger pointed. It was a little girl, playing with a small pink and sparkly bouncy ball. At first I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary but I concentrated a little more and there it was. There was a faint golden light surrounding her form and if I was a normal person seeing this, I would believe angels existed.

"Good job, Alice." Jasper collapsed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a light squeeze before walking across the street. A wide smile played on her face and we quickly went after Jasper.

When getting closer to the little girl, I inspected her more. She had silvery blonde curls that reached a little passed her shoulders, pale yet glowing skin and cat like, blue eyes. She noticed our approach and looked ready to run back to the safety of her parents but I saw her intense gaze, the same one that was probably on my face, and her mouth dropped into an 'o'.

"Master Jasper, I almost didn't recognize you without your beard." Her voice trilled lightly with an accent that sounded almost Irish.

"You must be a Blondie."

"You guessed correctly." She beamed up at him and gave a bow.

"Is your parents around?"

"Yes, they are just over there, having something to eat." She pointed to the mall where a lot of people were headed.

"Why are you out here, alone?"

"Papa told me that there was too much sad and angry energy within the mall, he felt that I would be safer out here."

"Alone?" Alice added in, an eyebrow raised.

The little girl, for the first time, turned her attention to us, the smile dropping completely from her face. She held up her hand, in what seemed like friendly wave but we were suddenly flung to the side, my face scrapping against pavement, Alice's on the grass.

"Hey!" Jasper whispered harshly, not trying to drag attention to us but everyone was in their own little world, not even noticing this odd act. The little girl smiled again.

"Sorry, I was just proving to them that I don't have to worry when I'm alone."

"Oh really? You looked like you were about to bolt when you saw us coming towards you."

"That.. I.. !" She flushed, looking down at the ground. It suddenly clicked that she was showing off for Jasper. It was kind of cute, in the wait, but she lost cute points when she threw us like rag dolls.

"Are you okay, Bella?" Alice came to my side quickly since I was taking my time getting up.

I'm not sure, half my face feels numb but I'm starting to feel that prickly feeling."

"Oh, Bella, half your face is dirty and full of scrapes." I lifted my hand to touch my new 'battle' wounds but flinched in pain. The little girl now looked like she felt bad for what she did.

"I'm sorry.. I didn't mean to fling you so hard. i was trying to direct both of you onto the grass but my magic is kind of wonky.. I'm still working to control it."

"It's fine," I assured her with a shaky smile, finding it a little hard to smile fully.

"Can you take us to your parents?" Jasper asked, helping me standing up, brushing my cheek lightly, avoiding my wounds.

"Yep!" She looked cheerful that the attention was taken off her. With a quick spin, she started to march towards the mall and we followed.

"Why can't you just heal Bella?" Alice asked.

"Isn't it more natural that she looks like she's been here? Here's three adults and one child, who's unharmed, now that's suspicious. Ninety-nine percent of the people in the city has been hurt. But I did numb the pain for her."

"So she and her parents are from.. Astral, your home kingdom, right?" I questioned this time.

"That is correct. We all don't have the same shade of blonde. And we make sure not to live with each other here on Earth."

"Why not?"

"Wouldn't it be strange to see over hundreds of blonde's living so close together?"

"Yeah, I guess."

We were quiet the rest of the way, watching the little girl skip happily in front of us. Jasper placed a hand on his shoulder, giving her a quick shake of his head. She was acting too happy and that was dragging peoples attention. She toned it down by walking normally.

When we got into the mall, we were afraid we were going to be forced back out by the mobs and how crowded it was in there but Jasper easily made way for us, with a little bit of magic. I took the time to concentrate on the people all around. I was shocked to find just how many of them were here. I also noticed that they made sure they were spaced out, not staying too close to each other so attention wasn't formed on them. I would probably stare at them if they did all decide to stand together, every single one of them was beautiful.

We entered the food court, which seemed to be even more crowded then when it was coming in.

"Hang on, I'll send out a signal to my parents." She looked around, only getting a handful of a bunch of strangers butts but stopped in one direction and started to rock back and forth on her head. After a moment, she jolted and shook her head.

"I hate when they send shocks! It doesn't hurt but it scares me!" We smiled at her and she pouted. "They'll be here in a moment."

Alice and I waited restlessly, shifting from foot to foot while Jasper tapped his patiently. After five minutes, we saw a couple walk towards us, their hair as silvery blonde as their daughters. When they caught sight of Jasper, their eyes widen and were about to bow but Jasper swiftly held up his hand, stopping them.

"It is fine. We'll drag attention to ourselves."

"Oh, that is right, forgive us." The older man looked sheepish and scratched the back of his head while the mother picked up her daughter, balancing her on her hips. "What may we do for you, Mas- Jasper?"

"I'd like some updates and information."

"Of course, let's go somewhere we can talk in peace."

"Okay. Bella, Alice, can you two stay here and keep an eye out on things?"

"Yeah, sure."

After the men left, it got a little awkward between the four of us until the older women shifted until her right hand was free.

"Hello, I'm Cecilia."

"Alice," A shake for her.

"I'm Isabella, Bella is just fine, though," A shake for me.

"What beautiful names," She smiled gently down at us but then frowned. "Strange, though. The name 'Isabella' is forbidden in our world."

I froze in my spot, shoulders tense and eyes wide. This was news to me and a shock.

"Forbidden?" I asked weakly and she nodded. "But I'm from here, Earth."

"Really?" This time her eyes widened. "That's strange.. "

"Yeah, it is. But tell me more, please." The older woman now looked a little worried.

"I don't know if I'm allowed to. You see, it's forbidden to speak of our history. It's passed onto our children but if you haven't been told about it, that means you are considered an outsider."

Outsider. The word made me feel alone. It made me feel even worse when the woman looked as if she wanted to get away from us now, glancing around for her husband.

"So how long have you been here, on Earth?" Alice whispered the last word to her and I was ever grateful for the change of subject, even though it bugged the hell out of me.

"We've been here for two years now."

"How are you finding it?"

"Well, we do miss home very much. We make sure to visit about three times a year but Earth is a wonderful place. Truly beautiful but nothing compares to the kingdoms in the other world." She was right. After looking at Cullen Kingdom, everything on Earth seemed so dull.

"That is true," Alice agreed with a nod of her head. "How is your daughter liking it?"

"Oh, she's a little trouble maker at school. I have to scold her many times about not using magic in front of people. She likes to show off."

"We know, we know," I muttered and glanced around the crowd, suddenly wanting to get away from her. I knew it wasn't her fault for shutting me out but I couldn't help but feel hurt. I certainly had questions for Edward when I got back to his damned glorious palace.

"I'm going to look around for a bit," I told Alice and she understood my intentions. To get away.

"Okay. I'll call you when Jasper comes back and then we should go get dad to come back here and eat."

"Sounds like a plan." With a halfhearted wave to the two Blondies, I made my way through the crowd, walking aimlessly.

Stores and kiosks were opened, accepting cash only since the power was down. I don't know whether they browsed because they needed things or something to do. Spending money just to pass time was such a waste.

I tried going into some stores, just to browse around but I was always followed by an employee, probably because their security camera's weren't working they had to trail their customers. So I gave up the idea of browsing through stores and just decided to find a place to sit and watch people. But that was also a bad idea since it meant I would have to think, whether I liked it or not.

After an hour my feet started to get sore so I was about to force myself to find a place on the ground, since it seemed like every damn seat was taken, until someone called me from behind.

"Bella! Bella, behind you!" Turning around, I saw Mike making his was over to me, hand in hand with an annoyed Jessica. She probably saved that look for me. I almost felt special. Almost. I forced a smile on my face once they were in front of me, panting.

"Hey, guys. Glad to see you two are safe."

"You too! Except that wound on your cheek." Mike looked at it worried and even Jessica showed a glint of worry.

"It's nothing serious, just a scrape."

"Make sure to get it cleaned so it doesn't get infected."

"Right."

"Our house collapsed during the earthquake. We rushed out as soon as we felt the earth shake but my mom wasn't so lucky."

"Oh my God! Is she.. "

"No! No, she's as fine as she could be. She just might lose her legs."

"Oh my.. " I could see Mike was having a hard time with with and gave him a sympathy hug which Jessica allowed since she wasn't making any remarks. "I'll pray for her."

"Thank you," He whispered in my ear and returned the hug before I pulled back, giving a reassuring squeeze on his shoulders and dropping my hands away.

"How are you, Jessica?" I asked politely.

"I'm fine, my parents are fine, life is great." She said sarcastically and I frowned. She sighed and looked away "I, I mean we, were really worried about you. We tried contacting you and your sister for days on your cellphones, house phone. We even knocked on your door for hours but there was no sign of you. You have no idea how worried.. " She bit her lip, trying to get a grip on her emotions. "Mike, I'm going to get us a sandwich."

"Okay," He nodded. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, not sparing me a look, and left to look for food.

"She was really worried about you two. Mostly you."

"Me?" I squeaked. "Why would she? She and I are practically enemies and I don't even know why."

"She always tells me she considers you a best friend."

"Wha.. "

"Shocking? Yeah, I know. When she couldn't get a hold of you or Alice, she started to panic. After a few days she broke down, hysterically claiming that "If her best friend is dead, she'd find a way to bring you back to life just to kill you again", words from her own heart."

"How.. lovely," I said a little disturbed but mostly relieved. I thought of Jessica as a best friend too, in an odd way. I knew she had too much pride to admit it to my face so I wouldn't say anything either, just to save her that pride.

"Yeah. I thought she was so cute, I kissed her and told her you're stronger than that. Now _that_ shut her up." He chuckled

"Oh, ho, ho," I playfully nudged him in the ribs and he flushed a bright pink.

"I hope you don't mind,"

"Mind what?"

"That Jessica and I are.. "

"Oh, of course not."

"I'm glad," He sighed with relief, "I didn't want things to be awkward between the three of us. Because you and I.. "

I was getting annoyed with him leaving his sentences hanging. And thinking that he and I actually had a thing before when it was all one sided.

"Nope. No awkwardness, not here, not ever. Just peace."

"Good." He smiled and we waited silently for Jessica to come back.

"I accidentally picked up a third sandwich, so I guess you can have it, Bella. Hope you like ham." She tossed me the wrapped up sandwich and I caught it was ease.

"My favorite," And I saw the secret smile on her face before turning to Mike. "I better go find Alice now, I didn't plan on wondering far or long."

"Okay, it was great seeing you again, Bella." Mike waved.

"And _alive_," Jessica 'hmpf'd' before grabbing Mike's hand and pulling him away.

I smiled as the two walked away. And I was glad they didn't bother asking where I had been. Thankfully my safety was all they cared about, Jessica was usually so nosy. I was about to dial Alice's cell number when I felt a hand on my shoulder and groaned. Who else was I going to run into today? Turning around slowly, I looked towards my next visitor and froze, cell phone dropping to the phone.

"It can't be.. "

".. "

"What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing. There's no way you're a Renzian or from Renzia."

. . .

"So, you have some explaining to do,"

"So do you, Jacob," I groaned.

I was shocked when I found out he was here, on Earth. I know I shouldn't be, other people from the other world come here all the time but he isn't suppose to know I live here. I gone weak in the knees, nearly landed on my ass but he swiftly caught me and took me outside. We walked around for awhile until he found an open area where not much people were. We sat down on the grass and he gave me his bottle of water, which I was thankful for. But then the interogating started.

"I think you owe me first, for lying."

"Lying? When did I lie to you?"

"You told me you're from Renzia. Every one from there has a tail and are a dark tan colour. You have no tail and you're pale. And no, you're not a half breed, either."

"Err.. " He got me there. I couldn't defend myself since I knew nothing of the people of Renzia. If I bluff anymore, he could tell and get mad.

"What are you?"

"Just a human being,"

"With magical powers."

"With magical powers," I agreed.

"Why lie?"

"I travel through a strange mirror, land in a strange place. Of course my only defense is lying. I thought people would call me a crack head if I tell such a story."

"Crack head?"

"Never mind," I waved my hand, dismissing that subject.

"I knew from the start that you were lying. So if I knew, that means that Prince Edward.. "

"Yes, he knows all about me."

"All about you?"

"Yep," He frowned and looked at the people across the street, struggling to stand up. Just a couple of drunks.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to lie to you for so long. The other world is just so new to me."

"It's alright, I forgive you."

"Lovely. Now, why are you here?"

"Just visiting. I heard about the troubles they were having so I came down, out of curiosity."

"Curiosity? You didn't come down to help them?"

"Why would I? This is their problem, not mine."

"But.. they need help, especially in times like these."

"Why should I help out war-loving humans? You know they'll do anything to start a war. And when the war breaks out, food, clothing, everything will get expensive."

"That.. that's true.. "

"Humans are just disgusting creatures." I hid the shiver that struck painfully down my spine that his sinister smile caused.

"We're not disgusting.. we're learning about the important value's in life when stuff like this happens, so please don't judge us."

"You consider yourself one of them?" He asked, surprised and looking slightly disgusted.

"Of course. I was born on Earth, I'm human as much as the rest of the world."

"I see," He continued to looked disgusted and I leaned towards him.

"Are you going to shut me away now? Are you going to ignore me?" He shocked me by coming forward to place a chaste kiss on my nose.

"Of course not. Friends are different in weird ways. Your way just happens to be weird and gross. I'll accept you and only you, though."

"Thanks, that makes me feel special," I snapped, pulling back and dragging my knees up to my chest.

"I didn't meant to offend.'

"It's okay, I'm use to it."

There was an awkward silence settling over us and the thought about farting to break the ice entered my mind but I swept it away, remembering my embarrassment from this morning. My cellphone started to play a happy tune and I pulled it out of my pocket. Jacob looked at it curiously, tilting his head to the side like a puppy. It was cute. I flipped it open and placed it against my ear.

"Hey, midget, "

_"Asshole,"_

"Hah! What's up?"

_"Nothing really. Jasper just finished talking with Alphonse, Cecilia's husband, and I was wondering if you wanted to get dad now?"_

"I'll get him. I'm with a friend and closer to home."

_"Are you sure?"_

"Yeah. Just grab a couple sandwiches and a place to eat."

_"Okay, see you in awhile?"_

"Yeah. Later, alligator."

_"In awhile, crocodile."_

I flipped my phone shut and turned to Jacob, who was still eyeing the electronic.

"Technology these days. I can talk to whoever I want on planet Earth. Exciting, no?"

"You can also do that on our world."

"Now that, I have no doubt. Except you guys probably do it in some magical, complicated way." He gave a boyish grin and I smiled back before standing up. "Come along, I gotta go get my dad and bring him back to the mall for food."

"Inviting me over already? Bella, we're moving too fast!" Jacob cried hysterically and I slapped him lightly on the arm, laughing.

"Come on, you!"

We started to short walk to my house and I was pointing out places and things to Jacob, explaining what they are, what they're used for, hoping to interest him a bit but he only seem to get more and more disgusted, so I decided to stop before he decides to ditch me.

As we near my house, I noticed he started to become more alert, whipping his head around every once in awhile.

"Are you okay? You're kind of jumpy."

"The neighborhood is pretty quiet, kind of suspicious."

"Really?" I listened intently, noting that he is right but I could hear birds chirp close by.

As we rounded the last corner, I looked both ways before jogging across the street with Jacob following close by. We stopped in front of the building and I pointed to it with a smile.

"This is were I live. It may not look much on the outside, my family isn't much of the gardening type or putting anything fancy out front, but the inside is beautiful."

"You live here.. ?"

"Yeah. Oh, can you feel some magic barrier? Some douchebag put it here, for some reason, so nothing inside is broken, there's just a lot of dust."

"Douchebag?" I blushed and shook my head.

"Never mind. Want to come in or wait outside?"

"Bella.. "

"Yeah?"

"I put the barrier here.. "

".. What?"

. . .

A/N: Evil? I hope not, I made it longer than usual! How was everyone's Christmas? Get anything exciting? I didn't want anything but my mom begged/bugged me to ask for something. So I told her "Boxers." And I got silk boxers! Don't judge. They feel nice and I'm a girl.

Also, sorry if there's mistakes, I wrote this while I was half asleep.

Breaking the awkwardness with a fart. True story, a friend of mine did that.

Bottledcoke


	17. Chapter 17

One Winged Angel

Jukebox: The Big Bang - Rock Mafia

Chapter 17: Emotion.

. . .

Bella's P.o.V

. . .

I stared at Jacob, mouth hung open and millions of questions running through my mind. But he didn't pay attention to me, he was busy inspecting the outside of the house. I completely missed the side glances he was giving, though.

"W, w, what do you mean?"

"I mean exactly what I mean."

"Okay, but, why?"

"Well, I sensed very powerful magic coming from this house but nothing to shield it from the earthquake so I thought that it was important to protect it."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I thought it was odd no one bothered shielding their home, so I did it for them. And you're welcome."

"Are you stupid?"

"What?"

"Is this your first time visiting Earth?"

"Of course not. I come here once in while for trades and delivering goods but I don't stay for more than a couple of hours."

"No wonder why. Well, look at the other others around you. They're _crumbling_. While my house is in tip-top shape. Now that is odd."

".. Sorry. I just assumed every magic user placed magic barriers around their house."

"I did too but my friend cleared that up for me. Anyway, can you take the shield down now?"

"What if there's more earthquakes?"

"Then my house will shake and crumble, naturally, like other houses."

"Fine," He muttered, waved his hand to the side and I felt the the magic slowly die down.

"Thanks," I mumbled while leading him down the small pathway, unlocking the door and into the house. "Welcome to my humble home. You can sit over there and I'll be back down with my dad."

"Okay," I watched him walk over to the couch and plopped down but started to hack up a storm. "Why is it so dusty?"

"I wish I knew that myself. Sorry. I'll be right back." He nodded, still coughing, and looked at his surroundings.

I took the stairs two at a time, reaching the top in no time and turning left, right in front of Charlie's door. Before I could knock, he opened it wide. greeting me with a refreshed grin. I guess all he needed was some sleep to get back on his feet. He was even showered and has clean clothes on! Not saying that he's a dirty person but someone like him who's so involved with his work tends to forget how to live like a human being

"Had a good rest?"

"Yep, now I'm totally starving for some homemade sandwiches."

"That's great. We should leave soon then but first I want you to meet my friend."

This earned me a raised eyebrow but nonetheless he followed me back down the steps. He made sure to add extra weight to each step to let his presence be known. Once we were downstairs, we spotted Jake by Charlie's prized cabinet, not intimidated by him or even paying attention. Charlie leaned down to my ear and I could clearly see the unhappy look on his face.

"Boyfriend?" He whispered and I coughed.

"_Friend_," I corrected and he huffed but looked a bit more pleased.

"Jake, this is my dad, Charlie, Charlie, this is my friend Jacob." At the sound of his name, he whirled around a perplexed look on his face.

"This is so strange yet fascinating, Bella. This cabinet.. it's, I don't know.. even my ma- "

"What! Even your.. your.. your mama can't get something so great? Well, one day I'll buy one for you and your mama!" I knew what word he was going to use but I couldn't let him, not with Charlie around.

"Oh," His expression sobered and he put on his most charming smile, taking confident steps to stand in front of us and extended a hand.

"Jacob Black, sir."

"Hrmm," Charlie shook his hand, longer than necessary and looked at the time. "We should get moving, or else all the sandwiches will be gone."

"Right," I quickly agreed before ushering Jacob out the front door but not before taking a quick glance at the cabinet with Charlie's finds.

Was there magic surrounding it? Or perhaps the artifacts inside are magical? I haven't even sensed anything strange coming from there.

.. Is Charlie a magic user?

. . .

The walk to the mall was awkward. I brought up random subjects to talk about but both of them mostly answered with a single word. I knew Charlie didn't get along with many of my guy friends but I didn't know what

was up with Jacob acting this way. He said that he didn't like humans but it's possible that Charlie can use magic but even so, it is all just too weird.

If he knows about magic, why didn't he tell Alice and I what we really are? Did he even think about the day when we would find out? There's also a chance he doesn't know but how could he not know? Ugh, it's all mind boggling.

Once we made it to the mall, I quickly contacted Alice, begging for her exact location. Within seconds she replied with a "by the big fountain". So that's where I took the lead, looking back once in awhile to make sure there was no murdering going on behind me.

"Bella!" Alice yelled out and waved us over. I was so glad to see her alone, those other people were awkward enough to have around.

"Hello, Alice," Charlie smiled before taking a seat beside her, taking one of the wrapped sandwiches from her hands.

"Hey, dad. Had a nice nap?"

"Uh huh," I mumbled while taking a bite of his food. I sat the other side of Alice and Jacob just stood there.

"Aren't you going to sit down?"

"I really need to be going. I didn't plan on staying for so long."

"Oh, sorry for keeping you."

"It's no problem, I had fun with you."

"Likewise. Uhm, before you go, can we talk in private?"

"Sure," He said uncertainly, glancing at Charlie who was watching him like a hawk.

"I'll be back soon," I assured him and got up, walking into a random direction.

I kept walking for ten minutes, trying to look for a quiet place to talk but I couldn't help but let out a frustrated sigh. Jacob seemed to notice my growing irritation and gently grabbed my hand before leading me to the mall stairwell. We went up what seemed mountains of steps before reaching the roof. The door was locked but with a little magic and a flick of his wrist, we were outside where it wasn't occupied except by the birds.

"I wish I thought of this," I grumbled playfully before easily removing my hand from his walking forward. A gust of wind took me by surprise and I felt a shiver run down my spine.

"Ah, sorry, it's a bit chilly up here. But if you'll allow me to warm you up.. " He waggled his eyebrows up and down suggestively and I couldn't help but snort. "Okay, okay. Then I'll just make a fire."

"Won't the building catch on fire?" I asked stupidly and he knew so too, since he gave me a look.

"It's magic, Bella. As long as I'm in control, it won't burn anything down."

We sat down across from each other with some space in between. I watched as he placed both hands over the space and concentrate. Seconds later there was a blue mixed with black fire warming us up. I stared at it,amazed.

"Why is it blue and black?"

"Because they're my favorite colours."

"You mean there's different colours?"

"Of course. But each one is casted different. This one is a bit more powerful than others."

"Can you teach me?" This surprised him but a grin spread across his face.

"I'll be glad to. I'm not a very good teacher but I'll do my best!"

We spent the next hour trying to perfect me in the art of making a lousy different coloured fire. But with enough concentration and magic, I did it. And it left my completely drained.

"With practice you'll be able to cast it no problem," Jacob huffed, obviously tired out by it as well. "Now let's get the real reason why you wanted to talk to me."

I hesitated at first, not sure how to bring it up. Of course I had more than one question to ask.

"You said.. human beings are disgusting.. "

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Well, why do you think that?"

"The way they live, I suppose. So unsanitary. A lot of them don't even clean up after themselves. I noticed that a lot of the cities are dirty, cluttered with trash. Talk about lazy. And I'm not the only one who thinks this way."

"Your not?"

"Nope. A lot of people in the other world think the same way. Most dislike coming here, some are even appalled that they'd have tasks to be done here but few others are fascinated with humans. They get permission from the head of their kingdom to come down to Earth, to live here and study humans. Those ones are the ones who confuse me. Why come to a downgraded place from out beautiful world? There is something clearly wrong with their heads."

Yes, something clearly wrong. After seeing the beauty of the other world, everything on Earth seems so dull.

"Of course, we had no problems with humans years, years ago. But with recent history, that all changed."

"History?" I asked innocently. Ever since I heard comments about the unspoken history, it's gotten me so damned curious. If I was a magic user, didn't I have the right to know the history as well?

"Yeah. Our world was peaceful, happy and content. No wars, no killing. But it was all brought down by a single human being."

"What?"

"Shocking, right? What could a puny human being do that we can't? Destruction. Our entire world was in chaos and it took years to get everything under control. Our world is no longer perfect as before and that's the reason why most of us hate Earth. So don't be shocked the next time you hear someone making comments."

"I see." I could understand his feelings. If someone from some other world brought destruction on Earth, I'd be pretty bitter about it, too.

"If that will be all?" He asked and I shook my head.

"Back at my house, you said something about your magic?"

"_Almost_ said something. You changed magic to mama," He grinned, amused and I blushed, embarrassed.

"Sorry. I just don't know if my dad knows about magic or not."

"Well obviously he does if both you and your sister can use magic. What about your mom?"

"Dead," I said in a emotionless voice. I didn't really like talking about her, it would hurt too much.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. But it's strange that your father didn't bring you and your sister up in the magic world."

"My father is different from others, I suppose. After the death of.. her, he found his home at work."

"I see." It was silent for awhile before he spoke up again. "Well, what I was going to say at your house was that my magic can't get through the cabinet. It's locked solid with powerful magic. I haven't even felt magic that powerful before. I only wanted to see the artifacts inside it because all of them are valuables in our world. One of those can set a homeless person for life, another can bring good luck, another pleasure and so much more. That whole case is just pulsing with magic and you didn't even notice?"

"No, I didn't. Perhaps it's because I grew up with it and become so accustomed with it that I don't even notice now?"

"That's possible because it was blaring out loud for me."

"Strange.. "

"Would you like me to do some research from above?"

"Will you? It's not too much trouble?"

"Of course not." He gave a boyish smile before standing up, his fire disappearing. "When do you plan on coming back?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe after my dad goes back to work."

"Alright, I'll keep an eye out for you."

"Okay, thank you. Good bye."

"Later," With a small salute, he disappeared in a blue flash. I shut my eyes quickly, temporarily blinded by the light.

I stay up on the roof for awhile longer, looking down at the people below before a chilly wind passed by. With a small sigh, I pushed back from the railing and headed towards to door. First I've got to find Charlie and Alice, somehow convince Charlie to go back to work in a few days and get back to training. The enemy waits for no one.

. . .

A/N: Running on less than four hours of sleep so the chapter is crap. But ooooh, the story continues to unfold. I was hoping to make this longer but I'm tired and if I want to continue writing, I know it won't get done at least for another month.

On a side note.. Ben and Jerrys icecream.. mhmm, so good.

Bottledcoke


	18. Chapter 18

One Winged Angel

Jukebox: Link by L'Arc en Ciel

Chapter 18: Bam. Boom. Hit.

. . .

Bella's P.o.V

. . .

"Charlie, we'll be fine. The power is up and running, even if there's power outages every few hours, we have neighbors if anything goes wrong."

"How many times do I have to to tell you to call," I cut him off.

"You 'dad'? Don't worry, I'm working on it." He pursed his lips together to form a thin line before sighing.

"Bella, Bella. I'm finally home for a period of time and now you're chasing me out back to work? It's turned around."

"It has," I said bitterly, avoiding his gaze.

Since mom died, he buried himself into work for years so I don't have much memories of him. Just of different babysitters every day until I finally told him I'm old enough to take care of Alice and myself. I know I couldn't hold it against him that he would do anything to avoid thinking about her but also avoiding his kids? It sort of made me lose respect for him. So until then, he is _Charlie_.

"Bella.. "

"Come on, dad, your buddies are waiting for you outside! You know how they are when you make them wait too long." Alice stepped in and smiled at him, allowing me an escape. He glanced between us before sighing.

"I'll be off, then. Bye Alice, Bella.. " He picked up his duffel bag, gave Alice a quick hug, patted my head and left.

We went to the windows, peaking out behind the curtains, waiting. After the mud covered jeep drove down the street, Alice left out a unearthly squeal and sagged against the couch.

"Oh my GOD! We're gone for two weeks from that place and after a day we just bawled our eyes right out and felt so sluggish. I didn't know what was happening to me until I remember it happened to you so you explained it's because we aren't eating the delicious food we've had before coming back here!" She inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. "I feel so drained. Their food is like a drug. I need more, Bella. Can we please go back?"

The thought of going back there, going back to Edward, sent my heart to flutter.

"Sure thing. Do we need to pack anything before going?"

"I don't think so. Oh! We got to tell Jasper we're heading back."

"Right. Before that, can you get something out of dads cabinet, there was something I wanted to see." I said, acting as nonchalant as I could.

"Okay?" Her eyes questioned me but she stood and walked over to the cabinet. Reaching out, she grabbed the handle and gave it a light tug but flew back against the couch, her head hitting the arm rest. "What the?"

"Hrmm," I hummed and inspected the artifacts closer.

"What was that? And did you know it was going to strike me?"

"Of course I didn't know that. And I don't know. When Jacob was over here earlier, he noticed it but I don't know if he actually tried touching or opening the cabinet.

"Why can't we sense it?"

"I'm assuming we grew up with it, so we're used to the magic.. or whatever it is."

"Great, more mysteries. Looks like it's time to drag dad back here and," I cut her off.

"No! Not yet. Let's wait awhile. You said you wanted to go back, right? Well if you get Charlie back here, we'll probably be stuck for another week or so." She paled at this and took her phone out of her pocket with a nervous laugh.

"I'm just gonna call Jasper," She pressed his auto-dial number and placed the device against her ear.

"You do that," I mumbled while I looked at the cabinet hard, seeing the glints of magic humming around it.

"Hey Jasper, it's Alice."

The was buzzing on the other line.

"No, we're fine. Our dad went back to the camp site so we're heading back now."

.. _Bzzz bzzz!_

"Huh? Right now is not a good time? Why do you say that?"

I felt my blood run cold and awaited Alice's next words.

"It's busy over there? Okay, that doesn't really explain why we shouldn't, whoa, wait, Bella!"

I heard her cry out for me but I didn't stop. My heart hammered hard within my chest as I took two at a time up the steps, dashed down the hall and into my bedroom. I stopped in front of the mirror, with only one thought it mind.

_'Edward.'_

Leaping forward, I was embraced by the weird vortex of the Phaze Portal and before I knew it I was descending into the Cullen Kingdom. Much like a cat, except ungraceful, I landed on my feet, stumbling forward on impact.

"Ouch, I gotta work on that.. " The words died on my lips as I witnessed half of the city in ruins.

There was smoke every where, blocking out the daylight and creating a grey day. Buildings were on fire, multiple holes were in the ground.. cloud things. Many people laid around the Plaza, bloodied, barely breathing. Some even looked dead. Women and children crying, palace guards shouting out orders.

I tried standing on shaky legs but was instantly pushed down by a force from behind. Rubble hit me everywhere but did nothing damaging, only minor scrapes. I gathered my courage and got up to inspect the damage behind me. But I forgot how to breathe.

Under a large boulder, broken off a building from the explosion, was a middle aged woman laying on her stomach, skull crushed, causing instant death. Next to her was a little girl, eyes red and tear streaked face but her arm was caught under the block as well.

"Mommy! Mommy!" She couldn't stop screaming and wailing, withering in a growing pool of blood. My mind worked instantly, my leg carrying me over to the crying child.

"Hush, hush, it'll be okay," I tried soothing her but she cried even louder.

Stupidly, I tried lifting the boulder but it was ten times heavier than me and I felt much too weak from lack of food from here. I even tried sending magic into my non-existent biceps and hands but even that felt weak to me. looking around furiously, I spotted two palace guards jogging across the plaza to us. I instantly got out of their was as one carefully lifted the boulder while the other picked up the little girl.

"This is bad," the one holding her murmured.

"The tissue in the arm is dead. We're going to have to cut it if we don't want it to spread." The other said.

"What?" I gasped, grabbing onto the guard who's hands were free. "She's going to lose her arm? can't you just magically repair it?"

"Miss Bella," He greeted, shocked to see me. "It's unfortunate but these aren't normal bombings. They're infused with dark magic. If we wait any longer, she'll lose her lungs next."

I immediately let go and watched them settle the girl down, placing a large hand on her head. There was a familiar glow and soon her tears stopped, eyes closing. The other guard gathered magic in his hand and I saw the red aura take in a sharp form at the tip of his hand, slowly bringing it down onto the little girls arm. I turned around, unable to watch the sight.

Bile rose up in my throat and I decided to go and find Edward while helping out along the way as best as I could. Of course I didn't go far, after passing by the medical tent and seeing all the open wounds, I puked up all the food I had from dinner the day before.

A man in white clothes came rushing to my side, patting my back.

"You alright, miss?" I looked up at him through blurry eyes. He looked to be in his forties with his salt and pepper hair colour.

"Y, yes. Just seeing, all that," I waved towards the tent. "Wasn't exactly pretty." He sighed and gave a pat on my back.

"Try and make yourself useful, ya?" He go up to leave but I tugged on his sleeve. Feeling the wetness, I looked and noticed blood. I screamed and recoiled. "What's wrong with you, missy?"

"Do you know where the prince is?"

"Prince Edward?" I nodded. "He's fighting at the front line with his army of course."

"Where is the front line?"

"Aren't you a citizen? You should know this." He frowned, giving a disapproving look. It was like he believed I lived under a rock. Well, I kinda did.

"I'm new, actually." I murmured and he sighed.

"The front lines are a few miles out past the South Gate. The king tried calling for back-up but it appears other kingdoms are getting attacked as well. So we're much on our own this time." He left much quicker this time to attend to other people.

I stood there, motionless, watching what was happening around me. It seemed so scary, I almost felt like heading back through the Phaze Portal, hiding in my room until this was over with. So tempting. But I saw a quick flash from the mirror above and saw Alice descending. She was much more graceful in her landing. Her face was as shocked as mine was when I first saw what was going around but she recovered more quickly.

Our eyes met and she ran on over, clutching my arm.

"Jasper told me in advance. He didn't wanna say anything while you were there 'cause he was afraid you'd come and get hurt, and when I told him you left already, he cursed and told me everything. He had orders from Edward that we are to remain on Earth until all this gets settled."

"But Edward is fighting at the front! He could die!"

"Calm down, Bella. You're acting as if you have no faith in him."

".. "

"Just believe everything will be alright. He must be strong for having such a huge town like this with trusting citizens. Let's help out with what we can. Jasper didn't want me coming after you but I hung up on him after that." She game a humorless grin. "As if I'm going to leave you alone while this is happening."

"Thanks," I whispered, grateful.

"Alright! We only learned basic healing spells so let's see who we can help out." I nodded in agreement and we set off, not far from each other, helping those who needed it.

We spent the first half an hour healing before we could barely lift our arms anymore. It was decided that we needed some food here to rebuild our strength, Luckily, there was a small stand in the medical tent where they had healthy foods and sandwiches. I grabbed one with orange and green stuff in the middle while Alice grabbed one with purple in the mix.

After gobbling our food down, we felt rejuvenated, full of life and energy.

We worked twice as hard twice, as fast. The people who were beyond our help, we brought over to the medical station. When there was bombings, we set up our protecting shields as far as we could expand them, like the palace guards did. Some of the bombings would go on for ten minutes while other times it would last forty-five minutes.

All too soon the light of the day was darkening into nighttime, making everyone more vulnerable to attacks. When the attacks did come, it was flash a bright light, blinding everyone temporarily, making it slightly harder to protect everyone we could. But by now every one had huddle around Alice, me or the palace guards for the shields.

One time there was four bombings in a row, right next to Alice and myself. The blows were so much powerful once they were right beside you, knocking many buildings over and creating huge potholes. At one point my shield started to waver, never having to withstand something so powerful so close. But I concentrated hard to hold it up.

After waiting for ten minutes before letting our shields down, Alice ran and got us two more sandwiches to rebuild our strength. I felt like this was going to be a long night.

. . .

Dawn was peaking behind the broken buildings when the bombings had stopped all together after two hours. The palace guards believed that the prince and his men have drove the dark magic users off their land and it was now safe for the time being.

Relief flooded me to know that Edward was alive and well, making my day looking brighter already. But there was still many people around the Plaza, either helping out, walking around helplessly or crying. I refused to look at the building pile of dead bodies at the farther end of the Plaza. It wouldn't do any good to just break down now, not when so many people needed me.

"Bella," Alice breathed out tiredly after healing a few gashes on a elder mans leg before sending him off. "I don't know about you but I feel like I could just pass out at any second."

"Let's eat some more food?"

"Are you serious? What if we over work our bodies? We're not used to such work, I can feel it. I can feel that my heart might burst any second from using so much magic." It was true. Alice was looking too much pale for my liking.

"Go rest in the medical tent, I'll stay here and help out some more."

"Bella, you're not superhuman." I was about to argue with her about that but she slapped a hand over my mouth to stop me from doing so. "Just because you can use magic does not mean your body can handle everything."

"But.. I don't feel strained, even though I've used more magic than you tonight, I feel fine. Refreshed even. Perhaps a little tired, but," She cut me off.

"Ahah! The first sign of weakness. Come on, these people can take care of themselves now, they don't need some girl babying them."

Looking around, I realized she was right. The towns people who were able were walking around, already trying to fix their destroyed homes. With a small sigh, I allowed her to drag me along to the palace.

I glanced everywhere, hoping to catch the sight of Edward somewhere but had no such luck. There was still people running all over, doing what they could.

Stepping through the castle doors sent a flood of relief through me, a sense of security and familiarity. The maids gave small nods of their heads, recognizing us instantly through the bruises, dirt and blood. One maid had handed us a fresh hot towel to use and we gratefully accepted.

"I'm going to get changed out of these clothes and contact Jesper, just to let him know we're alright. And that I'm glad you decided to come here even though he warned us." She patted my shoulder. "You have a good heart."

I gave her a weak smile and made a beeline down the hall, moving out of the way of rushing maids and butlers. They carried various of items outside, such as food, blankets, more medical supplies and much more. They probably felt weary, being up since the attack started. Alice and I didn't know how long it was going on for. The thought made me frown. Alice had told me that Jasper told her everything, so that only left me in the dark.

Why was everyone intent on keeping me, poor Bella, out in the dark? Do they believe I can't handle myself? That I'm not responsible? The thoughts didn't give me a nice feeling. I felt angry that they saw me as incapable. Haven't I been doing better than usual?

I'm sure I didn't have exactly the happiest expression on my face, from the stares I was getting, but that alone made me feel more enraged.

I walked into my bedroom, slamming the doors behind me and sat stiffly on the plush bed while working to get the grime and blood off my skin with the now chilled towel. Rubbing some of the small gashes made me hiss at the painful throb but I didn't bother healing those either, too upset by everything.

Moments later, Edward burst through the door with a panicked expression on his face. The loud noise of the door hitting the wall almost scared me death and I instantly flared out a protective shield. The young prince flew back by the sudden force and he was smacked into the wall back in the hall.

I felt myself go still, shocked that I did that on impulse without seeing first who had entered the room. Maids and butlers had stopped and saw their prince be flung out int he hall like a rag doll and rushed to his side. He hunched forward and rubbed the back of his head.

Without another thought, I stood and strode right over to where Edward sat on the floor. Once I was in his line of vision, he looked up, an unreadable expression on his face. I kneeled down in front of him and placed my lips firmly on his.

There were gasps around us but I didn't care. I just needed his touch, needed to know he was alright. He stilled a moment before placing his hands comfortably on my hips and ran tantalizing circles with his murmurs broke out but soon there was feet shuffling, the maids and butlers finally going on about their business.

"Hello to you too," he breathed out between kisses and I wrapped my arms around his neck, sighing.

"You idiot."

"Mhmm."

"Moron."

"Hey, now." His hands tightened warningly on my hips and I laughed softly. "You forget who you're talking to sometimes."

"I thought I was talking to an equal."

"Do equals talk like that to each other?"

"Sometimes, when they're angry or worried."

"Were you worried?"

"Mhm."

"About me?" I pulled back and smacked his shoulder lightly.

"Who else?" A heart stopping smile stretched his perfect lips for a second before it was turned into a frown.

"I told Jasper not to let you come."

"Why did you want to keep me away from this? You've been having me trained for this war, I should have been here!"

When the maids stopped again, this time to watch the scene fold, Edward helped us off the floor and back into my room and closed the door behind him, but not before ordering everyone to get back to work.

"Darn gossip police," I muttered and walked over to the bed, suddenly feeling tired, and sat down.

"I know I asked you if you wanted to train to fight in the war, but when I got word that you were back at the Plaza, shielding the people from the bombs, that changed. I was constantly worried about you, I wanted to leave the front lines to go yell some sense into you." He smiled ruefully. "My men had to to yell at me instead, saying that there was where I needed to be."

"And I should have been by your side."

"No," he shook his head. "You're a woman, you should have been somewhere safe."

"Just because I'm a woman doesn't mean-"

"But you're my woman!" He shouted this time and ran a hand through his messy, dirty hair. I stared at him, stunned to silence that I couldn't work my jaw properly, so it dropped. "Sorry, sorry. I told myself that with these lessons, you'll be capable of taking care of yourself in these situations but I can't help but think about the worse."

"Aww," I placed a hand over my heart and gave half a pout, half a smile. "You're so adorable when you're worried.

"A man does not like to hear he looks adorable." He gave a playful frown and walked over to stand in front of me.

"But it was so cute."

"Not that word either."

"What would you call it then?"

"Oh, something like.. charming."

"Okay, a bit of that, mixed with adorable and cute."

"Hmfp." He frowned down and I blinked, wondering what's wrong now. "This is why I don't want you any where near this place when a war breaks out. You have gashes and scratches all over you."

He let his hand hover over the tiny gashes and began to heal. His frown would deepen when the wounds closed up but a visible pink scar was left behind. With a weary sigh, he ran a finger over my dirty cheek.

"Are you okay?"

"Of course I am."

"You sure? You're covered in muck, you were here for who knows how long, helping people, using a lot of magic."

"Alice and I ate enough food to keep our energy up."

"Oh grief," he said while running a hand down his face. "I only got word that you were here, not Alice. Jasper will have my hide if she's been hurt any more than you."

"She's fine, just as I am."

"But your dirty. And those gashes.. "

"I wasn't expecting some explosions so I didn't have time to put up a shield."

"You were so close to the explosions.. "

"I had to protect them, Edward." I whispered, hoping he would understand how important it was to me. "They are your people. And in some way, I feel like I have to protect them. You had many guards there but they had their hands full asi t way. I'm sure it was a relief for them when Alice and I came to help out."

"Bella.. " He tried running his fingers through my hair but was met with more than one tangle. We shared a laugh before I stood and began to walk towards to bathroom.

"I'm going to get cleaned up and find Alice afterwards to see what's up with Jasper. He did tell us not to go but he should have known me better than that."

"Huh. I'll warn him next time."

"There won't be a next time. I'm going to be here as much as I can and do what I can do. Please, Edward." I gave him a pout, furrowing my brows.

"You look sexy when you do that." He murmured and sighed. "I'll.. try and bear that. But that means your training will be increased."

"Oh, great," I groaned. "I already spit split every few sessions."

"It's the rule if you want to be here, in danger."

"Fine, fine," I waved it off, wanting to get off that topic. "Now, I must shower, I don't like this feeling."

"I'll be here when you get out."

I suddenly had an idea, an idea that seemed much too bold for me. But the feeling grew much too strong for me to pass up and I grabbed the hem of my shirt, pulling it up and off my body. I saw Edward still in his spot as his eyes took me in with much interest.

"You sure? You can join me, if you want."

"You know I'd love to join you," he practically growled out and I felt a shock of excitement run down my spine. "Are you sure?"

I began to back up into the bathroom, my hands pulling the zipper down much too slowly for his liking. But once he saw the black panties, matching my black bra, peeking out, he stood and took long,, quick strides. Once he stood in front of me, I could clearly see his eyes sparkling with lust and passion.

Without another word, Edward slammed the door behind him before the steam could escape the bathroom.

. . .

A/N:: Oh my. Haven't been able to get to town for awhile! Everything is so hectic at home. Plus gas prices going up is not helping. But that's not important! Pray for the people in Japan! :C

I'm just in town for the day, don't know when I'll be back, honestly. I do have work + other stuff I'm busy now that the internet is gone. But I'm doing the best I could.

Finally side note.. FRIDAY FRIDAY. That is all.

Bottledcoke


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